Living a different life
by White Hunter
Summary: Seven kids are captured and turned into K9-Mutants, their lives as they know it soon change as they joing up with the Road Rovers to save the world from being destroyed and meeting new friends along the way. R&R.
1. The same no more

Dracotopia

Living a different life

Seven kids have been kidnapped and had been transformed into mutant dogs. They soon face off against a team of superhero-dogs in the Himalayan Mountains, but in the process they get caught in an avalanche. The seven kids are separated with one of the Superhero-dog team members and their team mates; will they escape their ice deaths?

I do not own the Road Rovers, but the characters that I made up are mine.

132

The same no more

In the park of San-Francisco, two brothers were playing baseball with each other. One of the boy's was fourteen years old with dark brown hair and blue eyes that show cunningness in them. He was wearing a short sleeve dark blue shirt with a black strip coming around his chest to the middle of his back, dark blue jeans and white runners with black stripes on them. The boy's name was Tom.

Tom was the strongest and smartest brother in the family, and he would show off his muscles around people. Tom also likes to play baseball, for he had a great pitching arm, and is great at hitting the ball right out of the park.

Tom throws his favorite baseball over to his younger brother Roger. Roger had dark brown hair and chestnut brown eyes. He was wearing a golden-yellow vest with a black sleeveless shirt underneath it, blue jeans and black runners. Roger was a twelve year old boy with a kind heart to people that he makes friends with. Roger had always looked up to his brother as a roll modal, but always felt like he's living in his shadow. Tom had always been the best at everything, and Roger was always second to last in the family.

Roger caught the ball within his baseball glove and smile at his brother.

"Here it comes!" shouted Roger as he threw the ball back over to his brother.

Roger brought his arm back and threw the ball over to his brother with as much force as he could muster within his right arm. The ball flew fast at Tom and was soon caught.

"Not bad Roger!" hollered Tom from ten feet away. "You're really getting better at this!"

"Well I am learning from the best!" yelled Roger with a smirk on his face.

"Oh yeah!" challenged Tom with a smirk of his own. "Well then, let's see if you can catch my curve-ball!"

Tom pulls back his arm and throws it at his brother, but the problem was that Tom had put too much strength into throwing the baseball. The ball went flying through the air over Roger's head and into the underbrush.

Roger looks over at his older brother with a small frown on his face.

"If that was a swing from a bat then that would have been a home run," Roger joked with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Might as well find it," said Tom with a sigh as he walks past his younger brother.

Roger followed close behind his brother as they went into the thickest part of the park. The two brothers' were looking through the bushes as they tried to find the lost ball. Roger suddenly felt something hit against the side of his foot. Roger looks down to see the baseball and soon grabs it in his hand.

"Hey Tom, I found it!" shouted Roger as he held the ball up above his head.

Tom turns to his brother after he heard what he had said. "That's great little bro, now let's continue our game."

"Okay!" answered Roger as he came up to his brother.

When they walked out into the clearing and they suddenly found themselves being grabbed by two strong men.

"Hey!" shouted Tom as he struggled with one of the man that was holding him. "Let me go!"

Roger was also struggling in his captive's arms. The men didn't seem fazed by the two boy's struggling in their arms, and they quickly place a cloth over the two boy's mouths and noses. A strange smell hit Tom's and Roger's noses as they breathed in the smell. The two boy's eyes started to drop and they knew no more.

Every thing was silent in San-Francisco Park and the only thing that was left in the park was two pares of baseball gloves and a baseball. This wasn't the only thing that was happening in San-Francisco.

South Africa

In a small hut lived an African boy that was twelve years old. He had purplish-brown eyes. He was wearing a tattered sky blue shirt and brown shorts. His name was Simba (It mean's lion in Swahili) and he was an orphan. His parent had died from illness from not having the right food to eat or fresh water to drink. Simba knew that he will soon meet the same fate at his parents did. Simba has no friends to count on or any relatives that he could live with.

Simba picks up an empty watering canteen and starts to head outside to the only watering hole in the village. The watering hole was mucky from all the dirt that is lying underneath the water's surface. Simba knelt down and started scooping up the water into his canteen. The canteen was nearly full until he felt something sharp pierce the back of his neck.

"Ow!" he shouted as he quickly stood up while dropping his canteen on to the ground.

Simba started to feel drowsy as he collapses on to the ground. Simba saw the blurry figures of men surrounding him before he suddenly fell into darkness.

New Mexico

An alarm went off as four teenagers were running from the store that they had robbed. The leader of the gang was wearing a white jacket with a sea blue trim on the collar, sea green on the trim of the sleeves, red on the corners of the jacket and a red triangle on the back, and a blue triangle on each of the shoulders. He was also wearing dark blue jeans with light blue trims and black runners, and around his wrists were black leather bands with metal circles on them. He had golden brown hair and light brown eyes. His name was Colt and he was twelve years old, and he was the best street gangster in the whole city.

Colt is not a team player so he only looks out for himself and no one else. Colt and his gang soon came to a three way street.

"You two go that way!" ordered Colt as he pointed to the left side to his two team mates. "That way leads to the end of town, and Rob you take the right, it leads into the heart of the city."

"But what about you boss?" asked one of the gang members.

"I'll keep going straight ahead." Colt answered as he points straight ahead of him. "You all remember the hang out so make sure you get there without being caught, and if one of you gets caught…well, tough luck. Now move out!"

The three teenagers and Colt soon split up in different directions. Colt ran straight ahead with a package of candy under his arm. Colt had a smug look on his face as he ran towards the exit, but he was soon intercepted as a heavy net fell on him.

"Hey!" he shouted as he struggled to get the net off him. "What the heck is going on here?"

Just then, two men walked up to him and grabbed him. They soon carried him off, to never be seen again by his gang members.

Alaska

On the banks of a cold winter's day of Nome, a twelve year old boy walked out from his house. He had black hair and light blue eyes. He was wearing a sea green parka with white fur lining around the edges and collar, brown pants and black boots. His name was Nanuq. Nanuq was a simple native boy that lived with his grandfather, who was a musher of a team of sled-dogs. Nanuq had lost his parents at the age of eight. His mother had died from a terrible illness and his father had left the town of Nome and to never return again. In Nanuq's hands were a fishing pole and a bucket.

"I'm going out to fish grandfather!" called Nanuq from the door.

"Make sure that you return before dark Nanuq!" hollered Nanuq's grandfather from within the house.

"I will grandfather!" called Nanuq again with a grin.

Nanuq soon closed the door behind him and walked out onto the frozen land. Eight mounds of snow lay out on the on the land. Nanuq walked past one of them and the mound of snow started to shift. A dogs head appeared from beneath the mound of snow as it stared at Nanuq before giving a friendly bark. The dog was an Alaskan Husky with black fur that was as dark as night itself and on the huskies head was a white star.

Nanuq turned to the dog with a smile and walked back over to the husky. After he had put down his fishing-pole and bucket, Nanuq got on one knee and started to pet the dog on the head.

"Hey Night-Star, how are you doing?" greeted Nanuq as he scratched the dog behind the ear.

Night-Star was the lead dog of the sled team and he had been Nanuq's friend ever since he was seven. Nanuq didn't have any human friends, for he was always too shy to talk to them.

"I have to go fishing now boy, but I'll be back before you know it." Nanuq said before he hugged his animal friend.

Night-Star let out a small whine as he nuzzled against Nanuq's neck. Nanuq pulled away and gave Night-Star one last pet before picking up his fishing-pole and bucket, then walking off to the thickest part of the ice where he can do his fishing. Once he had found the perfect spot he started chipping the ice with a metal rod that he had brought along with him. Nanuq was almost finished when he suddenly felt someone grabbing him from behind before he could turn around to see who was attacking him, something suddenly pierced the side of is neck. Nanuq started to feel sleepy and before he knew it, he was suddenly plunged into darkness.

Back at Nanuq's home Night-Star's ears suddenly flicked up into the air. The dog snaps his head up from the ground and then quickly looks up to see a helicopter flying over the village. Night-Star started to bark out at the helicopter as he sensed that his human friend was inside that flying-machine.

Scotland

In the land of Ireland a boy sat within a chair with wheels on it as he stared out at the water. The boy was eleven years old with brown hair and green eyes. He is wearing brown pants, a green sweeter and on his feet were black boots. His name was Alexander and he was born paralyzed in the legs. Alexander lives with his uncle and ant for his parents had died in a storm while they were taking a boat ride out at sea. Alexander didn't have very many friends, for they had avoided him because he was different from them. And the friends that he did have would only hang out with him because they feel sorry for him. Alexander just wished that he had a friend to understand him and see past his differences, but also have them not pity him. But what he really wants most was to walk and run with the other kids around him.

"It's just not fair," voiced Alexander in a sad voice. "Why was I born to not walk or run?"

He soon turns his wheelchair a little to the left and started to roll back home, but he was soon intercepted by two men.

"Hey, who are you!" shouted Alexander in surprise.

But the men didn't answer him and quickly grabbed Alexander. The men lifted the boy out of the wheel and quickly pierced his arm with a needle. Alexander's struggling soon seceded and he soon went limp within the men's grip.

One of the men pressed a button on the ear-phone that was on his right ear.

"Sir," he said into the ear-phone. "We've got the boy that you had ordered us to get; now we're heading over to Kyoto to get the girl, over."

A few seconds later a voice spoke on the microphone. "_Very good, now once you get the girl I want you to report back to my lab as soon as possible, understand?_"

"Yes sir." The man said as he and his partner carried Alexander to the helicopter that was waiting for them.

Once the two men had gotten into the helicopter and laid Alexander near Colt, who was fast asleep along with the other boy's, and they quickly closed the door to the helicopter. The helicopter soon lifted off from the sandy shore of Ireland and soon started to head towards Japan.

Kyoto

A girl was sitting alone in her room that day. She was eleven years old with long red hair the came down to the middle of her back, and clouded grey blue eyes. She was wearing a dark green halter-top with a sea green rim around the bottom edge of her halter-top, and light blue shorts with sea blue rims around the rim of the pants. The girl's name was Akane and she was the daughter of the flower-shop owners. Akane was beautiful when people looked at her, but the only problem with Akane is that she doesn't see. Akane was blind since birth and she is not able to see who the people are in front of her. Akane's mother and father loved their daughter very much, for she was their little cherry blossom. Akane was trying hard to make a beautiful Boca of flowers, but the only problem is that she can't see what their color is like.

"Oh it's hopeless!" exclaimed Akane as she sat on the floor of her room. "How can I make a Boca if I can't _see_ the color of the flower that I'm putting it in."

Just then, Akane heard a knock at her bed room door.

"Who is it?" called Akane from her spot on the floor.

No answer came and Akane only heard the door of her room being opened, and before she could call out to the person Akane suddenly felt a sharp pain in her neck. Akane cried out in pain but soon dropped to the ground unconscious. The two men that had captured Roger and the others came into the room, and picked Akane up off the floor. The two men had put sleeping-gas within the house, and Akane's parents were fast asleep within the living-room. One of the men had loaded Akane into the helicopter, and the other one had called their boss like they had before. He had informed they're boss that they have the girl. And they are returning back to the base.

The helicopter soon took off into the air and was now flying towards the Himalayan-Mountains.

Scene change

Some where deep within the mountain range, a huge building stood with a dark aura surrounding it. The building looked like an old castle from the olden days, but that was only the outside look to it when people see it. Inside was actually a lot more different, for inside was a huge laboratory with huge tanks, and wires that were connected to the place. There were seven lab tables that were near seven large domes, and on those tables were the seven children that have been captured by the men that had taken them from their homes. Each scientist was with one of the children with needles in their hands.

A shadowy figure stood on the balcony as he watched what was happening down there. One of the scientist's placed a black collar around Roger's neck, and the other scientists did like-wise with their other 'patients' as they placed black collars around their necks.

"How are they doing?" questioned the Shadowy figure as he looks down at his scientists.

"Everything is coming along well sir." One of the scientists said as he turns his attention up to their boss. "We have injected the genies of the dogs you have chosen for them. But do you think really think it's wise to mix tiger's blood with wolf's blood, sir?"

"Are you question my choice of how I'm going to experiment on these kids?" questioned the Shadowy figure as he glares down at his minion.

The scientist struck back in fright as he saw the glare on his master's face. "N-no sir…I'm not questioning you decision."

"Then quit you babbling and get back to work!" shouted the Boss as he gave a death glare to his assistants.

"Yes sir!" cried the Scientists and quickly got back to work.

When the people finished with the children they soon pushed the tables, with the children on them, towards the seven domes. The doors of the domes opened and the sleeping children were soon pushed inside. Roger was the last one to be pushed in but he soon came around before he was full pushed into the machine.

"W-what?" voice Roger quietly as he his eyes slowly opened.

He saw a person pushing him inside a strange machine. Roger tried to sit up, but found that his arms were restrained to the table that he was on.

"What's going on here!" shouted Roger as he struggled with his restraints as the door closed before him. "Someone help!"

Outside one of the scientists had pulled the switch to start the seven machines. Electricity flowed down the wires that connect to the machines. Back inside the dome, Roger was struggling in his bonds as a smoke started to pour into the room. Roger soon felt electricity flow into his body and before he knew what was happening, Roger had opened his mouth and started to scream at the top of his lungs. The electricity soon increscent within Roger's body, his voice quickly changed from a scream to a mix of a howling roar. Roger's mind soon went completely blank after that.

The scientist stopped the machine and looked towards the domes that held the seven children. The door of the domes suddenly opened as mist poured out from inside them. Seven figures suddenly stepped out from the domes.

One of the figures was the first one to step out from the dome that contained it. The figure reviled itself to be a tall male Beauceron with black fur and light brown fur patching his body. The Beauceron ears were standing straight up on his head, and his eyes were completely white. The Beauceron's was wearing a silver plated jump-suit with black gloves and boots covering its hands and feet and the black collar that was around the dogs neck sparked with electricity, but he didn't seem to be affected by the electricity zapping around his neck.

The next figure stepped out to revile itself to be a dark grey male wolf. The wolf was wearing the same cloths like the Beauceron with a black collar around his neck as well. And his eyes were a complete white just like the other dog.

The third figure stepped out to revile itself to be a male Malamute Husky with light and dark grey fur on his body. Like the other two, the husky was also wearing the same uniform and collar.

The fourth figure stepped out to revile itself to be a female, black and gold Hovawart. A thick mane of fur/hair draped down to the middle of the dogs back. She wore the same suit as the other three with a black collar around her neck.

The fifth figure stepped out as it showed itself to the scientists. The being was a male Golden-Retriever with light brown tipping his ears, and wearing the same suit and collar as the other four.

The sixth one to step out was a male African Wild-dog with black ears. He was wearing the same uniform and collar as the other five dogs.

And the last one to step out was the most unique out of the six. What stood before the people of the lab was a male rouge red wolf with black tiger stripes on his body and tail. He stood proud and tall before the scientists, and the shadowy figure, as the wolf/tiger glared at them with his white eyes. And before anyone knew what was going on, the wolf/tiger let out a roaring howl that shook the lab. The other dogs joined in with the howl as their voices echoed around the lab.

The shadowy figure smirked at his new creations. "They are perfect, absolutely perfect."

The dogs stop their howling and looked up at the shadowy figure. The Beauceron knelt down on one knee with the others following pursuit as they bowed before their master.

"We are at your service, master." The Beauceron said. "What do you wish of use?"

"My loyal pets!" called the shadowy figure from his perch. "I have summoned you to help me in my quest for conquest over the world. But there is one thing that stands in my way of dominating the world."

"And what is that, Master?" asked the male Golden-Retriever.

The shadowy figure didn't answer for a moment until a sneer came onto his face. "The thing that stands in my way is…the Road Rovers. I want you to eliminate them and after that, we will conquer the world!

But your group needs a leader that can lead you to victory, thus I have chosen Tom to be your leader. What do you say Tom, you interested on leading your team to victory?"

Tom looks up to his Master and smirked. "It would be an honor to lead the team to victory over the Road Rovers sir."

"That is good," the master said with a smirk. "Now…for the Road Rovers to come to us, you must cause some havoc with some tourists that come up to these mountains once in a while. And once the Road Rovers come, lead them up to the coldest part of the mountain. That's where we will be waiting for you and your team, understand?"

"Loud and clear master," answered Tom as he, and the others stood up from the floor. Tom turns towards his group, "We will make those Road Rovers wish that they have never been born."

The seven of them started to howl again, with their voices not just echoing from within the lab, but out to the world as well.

To be continued


	2. The search for the lost seven begins

Dracotopia

Living a different life

I do not own the Road Rovers, but the characters that I made up are mine.

132

The search for the lost seven begins

Tom and the others had soon finished their howl and are now looking back at the shadowy figure that stood on the balcony above them.

"Now before you seven start your assignment, allow me to introduce myself to you." The man said before he turns away from Tom and the others.

The man in shadow descended down the stairs as he came closer to the seven K9-mutents. The shadows around the figure soon lifted to revile his face to them. The man was a young teenager with dark blonde hair and cold blue eyes. He was wearing a white lab coat with a blue buttoned up shirt underneath it, brown pants and brown shoes.

"My name is Dr. Tomes William," introduced the man as he gave a slight bow to Tom and the gang. "But you all may call me, Master."

"Greetings Master!" shouted Tom and the gang as they stood to attention in from of William.

"Now, down to business," continued William with a smirk. "You are all probably wondering why you have been chosen, am I right?"

The seven K9-mutents nodded their head as they answered their 'Master's' question. William's smirk grew even winder.

"Then I shall explain it to you." He said as he walked over to them. "I have chosen all of you for you have abilities that people would never see possible. But the only problem was that they have been sealed off as you have all started to grow older. And now that they had been released, you all can now harness them without fear of losing them."

William walks over to Tom first and placed his right hand onto the Beauceron's left shoulder.

"I have chosen you for a leader because you have the cunning-ness of a fox and you are stronger then any strong men put together. Why not prove your strength to your companions."

"With pleasure sir," said Tom before he walks past the doctor.

Tom walks over to one of the larger machines and bents down. Tom slips his fingers underneath the machine and without much effort; the Beauceron lifted the machine high above his head. The scientists all gasped at what they saw before them. Tom had lifted a 100 pound piece of equipment without so much as breaking a sweat. Tom soon places the machine down to the ground with ease, and then straightened up.

Alexander was next as he was taken to a large punching bag.

"Alexander!" called William from his position in front of the group as he turned to the wolf. "You now have the fast reflexes of a Kick-Boxer with sharp claws to add."

Alexander positioned himself at a ready position and quickly started his barrage of punches and kicks on the punching bag. His arms and legs were moving in a blur as he attacked the punching bag. Alexander soon stopped as he stood in front of the punching bag; he then quickly flicked his wrists as the claws on his hands grew sharper. And, in one quick motion, he slashed his arms downwards in an X then turned away from it. The punching bag suddenly fell apart as it fell to the floor.

"Nanuq," William suddenly announced as the husky walked up in front of him. "You have a strong sense of smell now, and can pick up anyone's trail ten miles away. You can even with stand cold over 2000 degrees, and have ice breath that can freeze anything on sight."

Nanuq took a deep breath then blew at the floor and before anyone could time it, the floor had instantly been frozen. William smirked at what he had seen before him. The doctor soon turns to the Hovawart.

"Akane, you were blind and couldn't see but now you have the eyes of an eagle. You can see people from 100 miles away, even before they came close and saw you. You also have heat vision that can melt even the hardest of steel. And if I'm not mistaken, you have also taken up Martial-Art's when you were ten, but had trouble as to knowing where your opponent would be. Now, let us see how you melt this steel wall that is over to your right."

Akane turns her head to the right and saw the steel wall in front of her. The Hovawart's eyes started to glow red and before anyone knew what would happen, two red lasers had shot out of her eyes and landed their mark on the steel wall. In a matter of seconds, a huge hole was made in the wall.

Colt was up next, "Colt! You were chosen for your stealth as you were a theft in your home town. You can gather information and remember it no matter how hard you try to forget it and you also you have the ability to turn Invisible."

Colt smirked and soon closed his eyes, and before anyone knew it the Golden-Retriever had suddenly disappeared in front of them. Colt soon reappeared ten feet away between two scientists, who gasped in surprised at the sudden reappearance of Colt.

"What's hanging?" laughed Colt with a smirk on his face.

"Simba!" announced William as he turns to the African Wild-Dog. "You have extreme hearing that can hear from miles away and can even hear the softest of noises. You also have higher agility than any person would have."

William picks up a wrench and threw it at Simba. The wild-dog didn't move for a moment until, in one quick movement, had side stepped to the right. The wrench hit the wall behind Simba with a loud clan and Simba's ears twitched a little at the loud sound, but they never dropped down to the skull.

William soon came up to the last of the seven. The wolf/tiger stood straight in front of the doctor as a solider would to his commanding officer. William looked the wolf/tiger over with a larger smirk then before.

"As for you Roger, you are the runt of the litter." William chuckled, "But you are special than all of your team mates. You have the blood of the tiger running through your veins along with wolf's blood. Roger, you have become a new species of dogs that no one can ever imagine. You have the strength of a rhinoceros and can knock down anything in your path."

"Um…sir!" called one of the scientists from the computer. "I've just gotten the results for you on Roger and you're pretty much off on the young man's power. Roger actually has the speed of a cheetah and can run over 1000 miles per hour, and his speed can even be matched with one of the Road Rovers!"

"What!?" shouted William in rage as he turns to his scientists. "I thought I told you to put in some of the rhino DNA that I have given to you!?"

"Y-y-you did s-s-sir" shuttered the scientists as he shrunk in his chair. "B-b-but I must have some how mixed it up with the cheetah DNA."

Roger looks over at the scientist with a confused look on his face, but he decided to test out his power any way. Roger soon took off like a rocket as he ran around the room with incredible speed. Colt smirks as an idea came into his head, and then quickly grabbed a screwdriver from one of the tables and threw it at one of the windows. Before the screwdriver could hit the window, Roger suddenly appeared in front of the window and caught the screwdriver with his right hand. William was surprised by the sudden speed that Roger had shown in front of everyone.

Roger looks over at Colt with a smirk. "And you're out of here!" he shouted as he points his right thumb over his shoulder.

Akane had to suppress a laugh from coming up through her throat. William was impressed by how fast Roger was, but was still disappointed that his perfect experiment had been ruined by a mix-up of DNA. But there could be an upside to it, for after all, the leader of the Road Rovers was fast and hard to catch. William's smirk appeared on his face as he thought of the advantage he will have over the Road Rovers.

"Maybe this won't be such waste after all," mumbled William as he rubbed his chin. "Now that you all had your fun with your powers, why not test them out outside the lab. My guards have told me that there will be some tour-guides coming up this mountain. I hate having visitors coming up to my lab, so I want you seven to chase them away and also cause some havoc to bring those lousy _Road Rovers_ to me, even if you have to kill a few lives in order to do it!"

"We won't let you down sir!" exclaimed Tom as he salutes his Master then turns to his team. "Let's show those people that there are monsters up in these mountains."

The team nodded their heads, except Roger, and they soon ran out of the lab. Roger followed closed behind his team after he puts the screwdriver back on to it original place on the table. What William didn't know was that Roger still had a little bit of his free will in his mind over the black collar around his neck.

United States: White House

The White House is the home to the President of the United States but it is also home to the leader of the Road Rovers. A Golden-Retrieve mix breed was playing catch with the President in their backyard until one of the President's body-guards came and told the President that there was an important call for him. The President soon walked into the White House, but no sooner had the President left that a bright light shone down on the Retriever mixed breed.

"_Hunter, your needed_," A voice called from out of no where.

The Retriever, now known as Hunter, quickly ran over to one of the rocks, which moved to revile a hole in the ground. Hunter quickly jumps down the hole before the rock closed the entrance again. Hunter slid down the hole, which was actually a tunnel, which lead down to an under ground chamber that held a bob-sled that was made for dogs. Hunter quickly jumps in and the sled quickly took off into another tunnel that leads deep within to the earth itself. The scene soon changes to an under ground world where there were tropical trees grow and a building with golden fire-hydrants built around it.

The screen soon changes to the inside of the building as Hunter came in and jumps out of his sled once it had come to a complete stop. The Retrieve mixed breed soon runs over to a machine and stood inside its chamber. Smoke soon filled the chamber and in a matter of seconds, a humanoid dog stepped out. The dog was standing on two legs like a human and was now wearing a dark blue suit with silver armor, and around his waist was a red belt with a yellow R imprinted on the front of it. The human/dog was none other then Hunter, the leader of the Road Rovers.

Hunter throws his arms up in the air with a huge smile on his face.

"Yes, I love this machine!" he complemented before meeting up with his friends in the mission room.

The building that Hunter was in was actually the headquarters for the Road Rovers when they are called when trouble arises. It is also a place where Hunter and his friends could hang out once in a while. Hunter soon arrived in the Mission room and took his place at the round table. There were other dogs that looked like him as well.

One of them was a male Husky with white and blue fur, and light blue eyes. He was wearing the same armor as Hunter. The husky's name was Exile and he was the mechanic of the group, and he came from Russia.

The second one was a male Doberman that had black a light brown fur and dark brown eyes. He was wearing the same armor as Hunter and Exile. The Doberman's name was Blitz and he came from Germany.

The third dog was a female Collie with reddish brown and white fur, and blue eyes. Unlike Hunter and the other male's armor, her armor was more famine shaped. Her name was Colleen and she came from Brittan. Colleen was an expert at Martial-arts and is great at metical treatment.

The last one was not like the other, for he was more dog then human. He was a Switzerland sheep dog with long white fur. His name was Shag and he came from Switzerland.

"Hey guys!" greeted Hunter to his team mates. "How's it waging?"

"Nothing much Hunter," answered Colleen.

Suddenly, the larger door behind them opened to revile a man with white hair and eyes. He was wearing a white lab coat, brown pants and black shoes. He was the leader of the Road Rover headquarters and he is called Master by the Road Rover gang. The Master would summon the Road Rovers when a disaster was about to occur.

The Master was standing on the platform as he looks over at his team.

"Greetings Rovers," greeted the Master.

"Greetings Master!" coursed Hunter and the others in greeting.

"Today I'm sending you on a rescue mission." The Master explained to his team. "Just two day's ago, seven kids have been reported missing."

"Our mission today is looking for a bunch of lost kids?" questioned Blitz in disbelief. "That does seem like any concern to us!"

"On the contrary Blitz," the Master countered as he looks down at the Doberman. "Those kids have actually been kidnapped by an old friend of mine that I have not seen or heard from for many years."

"Who's that Master?" asked Hunter as he looks up to their leader.

"Dr. Tomes William," answered the Master. "He had been my apprentice at the age of eighteen. He was the one that helped me build the trasdogmafire, but William had been doing an experiment of his own. He thought of turning human beings into mutants with some animal DNA that he picked out for them. William tried to test it out on adults, but it failed as his adult volunteers had died before the process was complete and before they could fully transform in to their mutant forms. I soon found out about this and quickly shut him down before he could do any more harm.

"But it seems like he is not finished with his experiment yet, and has now kidnapped these seven kids for his testing experiment."

The big-screen in the room soon turned on to show the Road Rovers the faces of the kids that had been kidnapped. The first face to appear was Akane.

"This girl is Akane; she is eleven years old and lives in Japan Kyoto. Akane is the daughter of family couple that runs a flower shop, and their daughter is the precious thing to them. Akane was born blind after her birth."

"Poor girl" Colleen said in sympathy as she looks at the red haired girl.

"The next child stolen was Colt, and he is twelve years old." The Master said at the picture of the street boy. "He lived in New Mexico where he is a leader of a gang that steals candy, machine parts, and cloths. The identity of Colt's parent's is unknown."

"A street gangster huh?" hummed Hunter while he rubs his chin as he looks at Colt. "He must be an expert at getting out of trouble."

"And looks to be trouble if you ask me," added Blitz as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I mean, why would this William guy want to have this stupid looking kid?"

"Colt has been known to hack into security-monitors and computer systems, and is good on stealth." The Master answered before he continued.

"The third child taken was Alexander; he is eleven years old. Alexander was born in Scotland. He was born paralyzed in the legs and is unable to walk. He lives with his Uncle and Ant. For his parents had drowned in a terrible storm when they were out boating on the sea."

"Two kids that were born with no eye sight and no movement in the legs, that is troubling." Exile said with a shake of his head.

"The fourth child taken was Nanuq, and he is twelve years old like Colt. He lived in the cold north of Alaskan, in a town called Nome. Nanuq lives with his grandfather, who is the world's best musher of a team of sled dogs. Nanuq's mother died from a terrible illness and his father had disappeared to parts unknown."

"That boy lives in cold country of Nome?" questioned Exile in surprise.

"That boy must get a lot of frost bites there then." Blitz teased with a smirk on his face.

"The fifth boy is Simba; he is twelve years old and lived in South Africa." The Master continued as he shows the Road Rovers a picture of an African boy. "His parents had died from having drunken terrible water and not having the right food to eat. And thus is an orphan."

"Poor kid" Hunter said in sympathy, "Having to loss his mom and dad."

"And the last two are brothers," the Master said as the two pictures of Tom and Roger came on screen. "Tom is the oldest brother of the family; he's fourteen years old and is strong with a cunning mind. Tom loves to play baseball and shows off his skills in front of people."

"Just like someone we know." Hunter whispered to Exile, who nodded in agreement.

"And Tom's younger brother, Roger. Roger is twelve years old and is the only brother in the family, the information on his is unknown. But he happens to be a fast runner on the track and field team." The Master finished as he showed Roger's picture to Hunter and the group.

Hunter looks at Roger's picture and quickly saw the sad look within the boy's eyes. He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt a strong connection between him and the boy.

"Rovers!" announced the Master as he turns off the screen before looking down at the team. "You must find those kids and bring them back to their parents, but if they have been turned into mutants then bring them here so that we may help them back to their human forms. You will find William's lair in the Himalayan Mountains."

Hunter stood up from the table and saluted their Master. "We won't let you down Master; well bring those kids back safe and sound."

"I hope that there will be tooshie biting on this mission." Blitz smirked as he rubs his hands together.

"Don't be a weird boy," muttered Exile as he pushes Blitz's shoulder.

"Alright Rovers, let's roll!" shouted Hunter.

They quickly let out a howl before they ran off towards the hanger. The Master watched Hunter and the team leave before turning on the screen again. The screen soon showed William's picture with a smirk on his face. The Master glared at his once best friend on the screen.

"How could you have sunk so low as to using kids for your experiment?" questioned the Master in a quiet tone.

To be continued


	3. The fight, the avalance

Dracotopia

Living a different life

I do not own the Road Rovers, but the characters that I made up are mine.

132

The fight, the avalanche, and the separation

Roger and the gang were hiding behind some snow drifts as they watched a tour-bus coming their way.

"Here it comes," announced Tom with a fang smirk on his face.

"This is going to be fun," snickered Colt.

"Um…" voiced Roger as he looks at the group, "We're not going to hurt anyone, are we?"

Tom gave his brother a funny look. "What's wrong Roger, are you thinking on disobeying our master?"

"No!" snarled Roger in defense as he snaps his head towards his brother. "All I'm saying is that we shouldn't cause too much of a disturbance. I mean, what if other people, like the police, come up here when the bus driver radios for help?"

"That's easy!" Tom said with his head held up high. "We'll just destroy the radio before that stupid bus driver calls for help. Now you better get your attitude together and get ready, your job is to carry Alexander on your back while you're chasing down that bus. Once you two get close, Alexander will slash one of the tires with his claws. Once that tire is flat then we attack the bus and cause a little havoc with those people."

"Got it," the gang said together as they looked at their leader.

Roger was still a little unsure, sure the master told them to attack a bus, but kill those people. Roger couldn't bear to see anyone killed, but he was also worried that one of their team mates could get hurt.

"Get ready Roger," Tom suddenly said as he informed his brother. "Once the bus passes our spot you take Alexander and get as close to the bus as close as you can."

"Um…right" Roger hesitantly said as he nodded his head.

Without Roger knowing it, Akane was looking at him with a confused look on her face. But the Hovawart just shrugged it off and went back to the plan at hand. Once the bus pasted the gang's spot that their plan went into action and Roger quickly leaped out from his spot from the snowdrift. Roger helped Alexander onto his back and quickly took off running at high speed. Once they caught up with the bus that Alexander went to work. The wolf flexed his left claw hand and quickly slashed the back tire with them. The tire burst and the bus started skidding across the snow. Roger quickly pulled back from the bus as it was spinning out of control. The bus soon came to a complete stop as it hits a large snow bank.

"Alright, move out!" shouted Tom and quickly jumps out from their hiding place.

Colt, Nanuq, Simba, and Akane quickly followed as they made their attack on the bus. People started screaming and panicking as they tried to escape from within the bus. The bus driver was about to call for help on the mike but was quickly intercepted as Akane quickly destroyed it with her heat vision. People were really panicking now as they all tried to get out of the bus at the same time. Tom was on top of the bus's roof and lets out a howl that echoed through the mountains.

Sky

A jet was flying high above the air of the Himalayan Mountains. This was no ordinary jet; it was actually the Road Rover jet. Inside the jet, the Road Rover gang were discussing about their mission that they were going on.

"I still don't see why we have to go looking for those stupid kids," Blitz grumbled.

"We're looking for them because they have families that love them." Hunter said as he looks over at the Doberman from his driver-seat, "And if we don't find them soon and take them back to their families, then who knows what might happen to them."

"But one of them doesn't have a family comrade Hunter," announced Exile. "That Simba boy had no family remember?"

"Yeah I know Exile," voiced Hunter with a sigh. "And then there's that street gangster, Colt. We don't even know if he has a family or not."

"We'll just have to ask him once we find him and the other kids." Colleen said with a shrug.

"That is _if_ we find them," Blitz butted in as he included the impossibility. "If that professor did change them into mutants then how are we going to recognize them?"

"Now that's a good question," answered Hunter with a frown.

Just then, the group suddenly heard a howl echo through the mountains.

"Did you guys just hear that?" Colleen asked as she looks at the group.

"I sure did," answered Hunter. "I wonder where it came from."

"Rook Rown Rere (Look down there!)" shouted Shag as he suddenly points out at his window.

Everyone quickly looked and saw a bus being attacked by K9-mutants. People were running and screaming as they tried to get away from the K9-mutants that were attacking them.

"Looks like we have to keep or rescue mission on hold for a while." Hunter announced as he looks at the team. "Right now we got to help those people."

"Finally, some tooshi biting" smirk Blitz as he rubbed his hands together.

Bus

A young eight year old boy was trying to get away from the K9-mutants but wasn't fast enough to escape. Tom saw the eight year old and quickly jumps down from the roof of the bus as he instantly pins the boy to the ground.

"No where to run now, little boy" snarled Tom as he bared his teeth at the eight year old.

"N-no, please don't!" begged the boy as he stared up at the face of the K9-mutant.

Tom was about to make a lunge at the boy's throat, but was suddenly knocked off by an unseen force. Tom landed on the snowy ground and shook his head before turning to see who had pushed him. Standing in front of boy was Roger that quickly knocked Tom down to the ground, and was bearing his fangs at his older brother.

"Roger!" shouted Tom as he quickly stood up and glared at his younger brother, "How dare you interfere?!"

"Stop this Tom!" growled Roger as he glares back at his brother. "We've done what we came here to do, and the Road Rovers are here. That means we have to go, now!"

"I'm the leader and I make the rules!" yelled Tom as he got ready to pounce on his brother, "Now get out of my way!"

But Roger stood his ground as he growls at his brother. The boy slowly stood up behind Roger but was too scared to move. The two brothers kept glaring at each other until Colt shouted out to them.

"I hate to break up this staring contest, but we have to get out to here!" he shouted as he came up between the two and pointed up at the hill.

Tom looks and saw five dogs running towards them. Tom lets out a growl before turning to Colt again.

"Tell the others to stop what their doing, and move out!" ordered Tom with a snarl before turning back to Roger. "And when this is over, you and I are going to have a serious talk later on."

Roger growled at his brother before looking at the boy again. The boy flinches back when Roger turned to eight year old, and Roger knew why they kid was afraid of him then turns away from the boy again. The wolf/tiger quickly ran after his team mates. Hunter and the gang quickly came to check if everyone was alright before racing off after Tom and the gang. Once the Road Rovers were sure that the people were alright they started running off after the K9-mutants.

Roger and the gang were running as fast as they could up the mountains of snow. Once or twice, one of their group members would slip or fall in the snow and Roger was always the one to wait for them while the others went ahead. Akane would sometimes trip within the snow but always kept getting back up and catch up with the others in a matter of minutes.

Simba, being the agile one of the group, would sometimes trip and fall in the snow and will take a while on getting up. Roger always came back for the young African wild-dog and helps Simba up onto is feet again. As they got closer to the coldest part of the mountains Simba had instantly trip in the snow again and fell down onto the cold ground. Roger quickly came back for him and was about to help Simba up again when the black collar around their necks started to spark, and before long Roger started to howl in pain along with Simba. Akane and Nanuq stopped running and looked back behind them. They saw Roger and Simba were gripping the edges of their collars.

"Hey, what's wrong?!" called Nanuq to Roger and Simba.

The two of K9-muntants didn't answer as they howled and growled in pain as they trashed their heads from left to right.

Unknown location

Dr. Tomes William was standing on the balcony of his castle that over looked the land. In his hands was a black remote control with seven colored buttons on it. William was pressing two of his fingers on a red and blue button at the same time. William had been watching his new K9-mutants on his monitors. He had seen just how Roger had disobeyed his brother and protected a small boy from Tom. And Simba was being too slow on his feet so he decided to give them a taste of their punishment.

"They will learn to not disobey me again," voiced William with a smirk on his face.

The Himalayan Mountain region

Roger fell to the snowy ground beside Simba and started panting for breath. The shock had stopped and Roger stood back up onto his feet again. Simba followed pursuit but was still a little shaken after the experience. Akane and Nanuq came up to them with confused looks on their faces.

"Are-are you guys…okay?" asked Nanuq as he came up to them.

Roger looks at Nanuq and nodded his head yes. Simba replied in the same way.

"We better hurry up with Tom and the gang or else." Akane said pointedly as she points after their team mates.

"Sigh …your right Akane," panted Roger before looking over his shoulder. "If we stay here any longer then we're bound to get caught by those Road Rovers. Let's move out gang!"

After that was said and done Roger quickly lead the gang back to Tom, Colt, and Alexander; with the Road Rovers following behind them. Roger and the gang soon met up with Tom and the others.

"What took you so long?!" demanded Tom in anger as he glares at Roger and the group.

"We were having a little trouble on the way, that's all." Roger answered, "But there's something weird about our collars."

"There's no time for this!" interjected Colt as he stepped in front of everyone. "Those Road Rovers will be here soon and we've only got a few more miles up the mountain to climb, that's when our plan will go into action."

"Goldie is right," Tom said as he butted in. "Now let's move it or else this plan will fail."

"But Tom, we need to rest!" exclaimed Roger as he suddenly walked up to his brother. "If we're not carefully then we might-"

But Roger was instantly cut off as Tom suddenly back handed his brother. Roger was sent flying into a tree as he slams into it. Roger drops to the ground on his face. Akane and the others gasped as they had just witnessed what had happened to Roger. Tom started to stomp towards his brother with an angry look on his face. Roger started getting up onto his hands and knees before his brother was standing right over. Tom reached down and grabbed Roger by the shirt, and lifted him up off the ground. Roger groaned as he forced his eyes opened and looks down at his brother.

"Don't you dare speak out of line again, understand that runt?" growled Tom as he glares at his younger brother.

Roger slowly nodded his head 'yes' but one thought was going through his mind. Why was his brother acting like this?

"Well, well what do, we have here?" question a voice behind the K9-Mutant group.

Tom drops Roger to the ground before glaring over at the person who had spoken to them. There, standing in front of Tom and the group, was the Road Rover gang. Tom growled, for he knew that the plan had failed.

"What you see before you is none of your business!" snarled Tom a he glared at the five dogs in front of him.

"It is our business after you had attacked that bus full of people!" exclaimed Hunter as he glares at the Beauceron. "Now hand yourselves over so that we won't have to go into a blood bath battle."

"Hump…Unfortunately for you dogs I don't give up that easily." Tom smirked.

Roger slowly got up off the ground and looks over at the Road Rovers. They were K9-mutants like them, but their armor was different compared to theirs. Roger slowly got up onto his feet, for his legs were a little unsteady underneath him but he knew that he had to stand and fight.

"It's just your bad day on meet up with us," chuckled Tom before turning his head to Nanuq. "Put them on Ice Nanuq!"

Nanuq quickly did as he was told and took a long deep breath before letting it out. The ground instantly froze underneath the Road Rovers ankles.

"Hey!" shouted Hunter as he and the gang struggled to get their feet free from their icy prison.

"Ice ya later!" shouted Tom as he started running off with the others following behind him.

Roger stopped in his tracks before looking back at the Road Rover gang as they struggled to free their feet from the ice. Just then, a light shock jolted through his body and he lets out a small yelp before running after the others. Hunter and the gang struggled but finally gave up. Then the pack leader suddenly remembered something.

"Exile, use your heat vision to melt the ice!" ordered Hunter as he looks over at the Husky.

"You got it comrade!" said Exile before pointing his heat vision down at the ice that was trapping them.

With Tom and the group they had a big lead as they came to a crevice in the ground. Tom and the gang soon found the ice bridge that they had taken from the castle to the place were the tour-bus would have past by. Tom and the gang started running across it, but Alexander suddenly slipped and was now hanging onto the edge of the ice bridge with his claws. Roger turned back and saw that his team mate was in trouble, he quickly ran back to get him.

Tom stops and turns to see his brother run back onto the bridge. Roger quickly made it to Alexander's aid, and started to pull the wolf back onto the Ice Bridge. Tom waited impatiently for his brother and Alexander as they came back to them. The group was at the spot where they will fight the Road Rovers. They were standing in front of a big wall of snow that rose high above them with a large cave in front of them.

"This is the place," announced Tom as he turned to his group. "We just have to wait until those Road Rovers come here and then the Avalanche will begin. Now before that starts we have to distract the Road Rovers while the scientists plant the explosives."

"We could have fought those Road Rovers when we hand the chance." Colt grumbled under his breath as he voiced his opinion to Nanuq.

Tom suddenly shot his head towards Colt with a glare. "Did you say something?" questioned Tom.

"Um…no sir!" exclaimed Colt as he stood to attention.

"Good!" Tom huffed before turning to the ice bridge.

The others looked to see the Road Rovers coming towards them as they crossed the Ice Bridge. Tom stood in front of the group as he got ready to fight the Road Rovers. Roger was about to get into a fighting position but quickly stopped as he suddenly felt that something wasn't right here. Roger quickly looked behind him as he stared at the wall of snow, and before anyone knew what was happening a huge explosion was heard. Roger's eyes went wide as he saw a huge mound of snow falling towards them.

Roger quickly turns to the two groups and shouted out to them "AVALANCHE!"

Tom and the gang looked over at the huge mound of snow coming down towards them. Tom's eyes widen with fear and quickly gave his group an order.

"Everyone into the cave, NOW!" shouted Tom over the rumbling of the avalanche coming down on them.

Hunter shouted the same thing to his team mates as well, and the two groups ran towards the caves. The avalanche came thundering down towards the group. There were five other caves inside that lead deeper into the mountain. Tom and Alexander ran towards one of the caves on the far left to escape the impact of the avalanche, and out of panic, Shag followed them.

"Tom no!" shouted Roger as he was about to go after his brother.

But he was instantly tackled by Hunter, who had used his super-speed, and the two of them were sent flying into the first cave that Roger was standing in front of. Colleen grabs Akane's hand and quickly took her into the cave on the far right, while Exile dragged Simba into a cave on the mid right. Colt, Nanuq, and Blitz quickly ran towards the last cave of the mid left and dived into it.

The avalanche descended upon the cave and covered the whole entrance, even the main part of the cave that Roger and the gang had been in before the avalanche came down on them.

Dr. Tomes William's lab

Dr. Tomes William was standing in front of his monitor as he watched the seven dots of Roger and the gang being separated from each other. William knew that his pets had been separated with the Road Rovers and smirked.

"It is all coming together" he voiced with a chuckle, "Now those Road Rovers will face their ultimate test against my all powerful…what?"

William's eyes went wide as one by one the dots that indicated the where a bouts of his K9-mutants started to disappear.

"This…can't be possible!" shouted William as he slams his fists down on one of the desks in the room. He then quickly turned to his scientists and employees. "Hurry, find my experiments and track them down!"

The Road Rovers and the K9-mutant kids were trapped in the darkest and coldest parts of the mountains, trapped with one or two different team members.

To be continue


	4. Spending time with one another

Living a different life

I do not own the Road Rovers, but the characters that I made up are mine.

132

Spending time with one another

All was silent within the cold caverns of the mountain, but was soon disturbed by a silent moan. A body was lying on the icy cold ground but suddenly gave a slight, jerking, movement until it finally sat up. The person had his back turned to the front of the camera. On the person's back was a golden/yellow vest with the back of the head showing itself soon afterwards. The back of the head shows some black stripes and rouge red fur, with triangle ears tipped with black. The person looks at his hands and gasps.

"What the…!" shouted the person before turning to the icy wall to his left.

The person saw his reflection within the icy walls. What was staring back at him was a wolf with tiger stripes all over its body, but that's not what shocked the person the most. For on the wolf's body were the cloths that the person was wearing. The person was none other then Roger. Roger quickly stood up in shock as he stared at his reflection but quickly fell back down onto his bottom. Roger looks down at his right ankle, and he saw that a little bit of blood was poring down from the side of his ankle.

"Well that's just dandy!" he growled as he glares down at his ankle. "I'm stuck in a cave made of ice and snow, with my ankle cut, which is probably sprained or broken!"

Just then a thought came into his head, how did he get here? Roger started to look left to right within the cavern for any signs of anything familiar, but he didn't see anything that looked familiar at all.

"Okay, calm down," voice Roger as he took a deep breath. "First off; my brother and I were playing catch within the park, and then those guys in black suites came and grabbed us. After that they put those cloths to our noses and we started to breath in this weird smell. Then I woke up in this strange machine, while being strapped to a metal table. And I was soon shocked by an electrical current, and then I blacked out. After that it becomes a total blank, and then I wake up in this cavern. I wonder where my brother might be."

Just then, Roger was pulled out to his thoughts as he suddenly noticed the heavy weight on his neck. Roger lifts up his left claw hand and suddenly felt something cold and hard attached to his neck. Roger takes a second glance as his reflection in the ice, and saw the black collar hanging around his neck.

"What the…where did this thing come from!" shouted Roger as he starts to claw at the collar.

He was about the trash around but was quickly stopped by someone behind him. He felt the person place their hands on his shoulders.

"Take it easy there kid, you might hurt yourself." Spoke a voice from behind Roger.

Roger was confused as to who this person was, but quickly found out when he saw who it was behind him as he stared into the reflection of the ice cave wall. Who stood behind Roger was actually a six feet humanoid dog that was wearing a blue suit with silver armor, gloves and boots on its body. Around the dog's waist was a red belt with a yellow R on the front, and around the dog's neck was a bright red collar with a golden dog-tag on it. Roger quickly turned around to face the humanoid dog, while pushing the hands away from his shoulders, with a startled look on his face. The humanoid dog had the head and tail of a golden retrieve with a few light spots on his muzzle and at the tip of its tail.

"Who-who in the world are you?!" questioned Roger as he quickly got to his feet.

Suddenly, he felt the same pain erupt from his hurt ankle, and he started falling down to the ground. But before Roger hits the ground, he was quickly caught by the humanoid dog. The humanoid dog lightly sets Roger down on the ground.

"Whoa! Take it easy there kid," the Dog said as he leans Roger up against the icy wall of the cavern.

Roger looks up at the humanoid dog with a confused look on his face.

"Now to answer your first question kid," continued the dog with a smile. "My name is Hunter, and I'm the leader of the Road Rovers."

"R-road rovers?" questioned Roger with a confused look on his face.

"What? Don't tell me you haven't heard of us!" gasped Hunter as he looks at Roger in disbelief.

Roger gave a nerves smile as he scratches the side of his head with his index finger. "Well…I haven't really read the News paper, so I'm always the last one to know."

"That's okay" Hunter said with a smile as he shrugged of his shoulders. "I'm also slow on getting information sometimes as well, and I would also like to ask you a question if you don't mind."

"Go right ahead," said Roger as with a shrug of his shoulders.

"By any chance, could your name be Roger?" asked Hunter gently.

Roger was surprised by Hunter's question, "How-how did you know my name?"

"Well you, your brother, and five other kids have been kidnapped by an evil scientist named Dr. Tomes William, and our master sent us to find you." Hunter answered as he sat down on the ground in front of Roger. "He told us to find you and take you guys home, and if you guys were changed into mutants, just like you are now, we were to take you back to our base and change you back to your original selves."

"Are you serious?" asked Roger with hope in his heart.

"For real man," answered Hunter with a nod of his head. "It's a superhero's honor."

Roger gave it some thought before smiling at Hunter. "I guess I can trust you, but how are we going to get out of here?"

"I'm sure we'll find some way out of here Roger," answered Hunter with a reassuring smile.

"Okay, then we better get moving." Roger said as he started to stand up but was stopped by Hunter.

"I think you better take it easy on that ankle of yours." Hunter said before turning his back to Roger. "Until then, you can ride on my back."

Roger was unsure for a moment but decided to take up Hunter's offer, and slowly raised himself up onto his feet. Roger lets out a whimper of pain but managed to limp over to Hunter's back and grabbed hold of the humanoid dog's shoulders, while Hunter wrapped his arms underneath Roger's legs and lifted the boy up onto his back.

"You okay up there?" asked Hunter as he looks over his shoulder at his passenger.

"Yeah," answered Roger before he started scratching his claw fingers on the black collar again. "But this stupid collar is starting to hurt my neck."

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll meet up with one of my friends, Exile, and I bet he'll get that metal collar of your neck in no time." Hunter said with a smile, "And he's probably with one of the other kids that might have been kidnapped as well."

Roger smiled back at Hunter; he had only met Hunter for a few seconds and he already started to like him. Hunter made sure that Roger a secured on his back as he started walking down the cavern with his steps echoing against the walls.

Akane

Akane lay on the icy floor within the icy cavern but soon sat up.

"Where-where am I?" she voiced as she looks around the cavern.

The cavern that Akane was in was beautiful as light seeped through the cracks and bounced off the icicles as they created rainbows. Akane rubs her eyes to see if she wasn't seeing things and when she took another look, she saw that she wasn't seeing things after all. Akane was actually seeing colors that she had only seen in her dreams, but this place was even more beautiful than she saw in her dreams.

"I'm…actually seeing things that I have only seen through my minds eyes!" gasped Akane in surprise with a huge smile on her face as she slowly got up from the floor.

But her excitement quickly came to a halt when she turned to see her reflection within the ice. Akane saw the face of a dog staring straight at her. The dog was wearing the same clothes that she was wearing but she also saw the dog's eyes. The dog's eyes were a light brown with a soft warm glow in them. Slowly Akane lifted up her hands and saw that her hands were human but had golden fur on them. Akane then turns her head to the side to see a tail waging behind her. The Japanese girl lets out a gasp as she falls on to the floor of the cave with a shocked look on her face.

"How-how did I wind up like this?" questioned Akane as she stares at her reflection and she suddenly noticed the black collar hanging around her neck.

Akane slowly lifted her paw/hands up to the collar as her finger tips touched the cold surface. The weight of the collar felt uncomfortable around the girl's neck. Just then, Akane's ears picked up on quiet noise behind her and she quickly turned around to find a body lying on the ground. Akane was a little surprised that someone else was here with her. Akane was curious on who this new person was as she slowly got back up onto her paw/feet, and started to walk over to the person with timid steps.

Once Akane came closer to the body she saw that the person's body had the tail of a dog with the face representing a face of a dog as well. Akane knew what type of dog it was; it was a Collie that was lying in front of Akane. The Collie was wearing silver and blue armor with a red belt around its waist. Akane leans down to have a closer look of the dog and found out about some of the features of the dog's face that it was actually a female. Akane had to admit that this dog was beautiful.

"Umm…" voiced Akane a little shyly, "Excuse me."

The Collie didn't move for a moment but soon let's out a groan before opening her eyes. Akane steps back to give the person some room before sitting back down on the ground. The Collie slowly sat up as she rubs her temple for a moment. The Collie starts to look around before her blue eyes landed on Akane.

Akane shies away from the collie as she slides back a little, but was soon stopped when the collie started talking to her.

"It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you love." The collie said in a gentle tone.

"Who…what are you?" asked Akane in English.

Akane had learned a little English back home in Japan.

"My name is Colleen, and I'm part of a team called Road Rovers." Colleen answered.

"I'm Akane" she replied with a smile on her face.

"Then you must be one of the children that me and my team had been sent to find." Colleen said as she runs her right hand under her chin.

"What do you mean Mrs. Colleen?" questioned Akane as her head tilts her head to the side.

"Well love, our Master had sent us to find you and six other kids. Once we do, then we'll take you back to your family." Colleen answered with a smile.

"Really?" asked Akane with a hopeful smile on her face.

Colleen nodded her head 'yes' at Akane's question. Akane's smile became wider and before she knew what she was doing, Akane threw her arms around Colleen's waist. Colleen was taken by surprise for a moment but soon smiled as she places her left hand on Akane's back; while stroking the girls head.

Akane realized what she was doing and pulls back a little: "Oh…sorry about that Colleen."

"It's alright," Colleen said as she looks down at Akane. "Now, let's go find the other, shall we?"

"Of course," answered Akane with a nod of her head.

The two of them started down the cavern of ice in complete silence.

Simba

Simba had woken up in the ice cavern like Roger and Akane. He was shocked that he had become an African wild-dog and had found the same black collar hanging around his neck. Simba was wearing the same ragged clothes that he had been wearing back at home as he sat on the icy floor. Simba had soon met Exile, and he was surprised as he saw a talking dog in front of him. But he quickly got over it as he saw that Exile wanted to help him. Exile was crouched behind Simba as he started working on the black collar, which hung around the young Wild-dog's neck.

The husky was using his heat-ray vision as he tried melting the collar off of Simba's neck. The metal started to melt under Exile's heat-ray vision, and the husky quickly tore the sides off. Simba rubs his neck as relief washed over him.

"Thank god," he sighed "I thought that collar would never come off."

"You said it; for this is one strange looking collar that I have ever seen." Exile said as he looks at the remains of what was left of the black collar.

"I just hope I don't meet up with that mad doctor again," muttered Simba as he looks up at the Husky. "And I really owe you one for taking that collar off my neck."

"No sweatski," replied Exile with a wave of his hand. "It's my pleasure to help people out, it's my job."

Simba smiled at the husky as he stood up. He started looking around his surrounding's.

"I wonder how we'll get out of this cavern?" questioned Simba as he scratches the back of his left ear.

Exile stood up and looked to his right: "I think that we should go that way." He pointed out as he saw a tunnel up ahead of them. "If we followed it then we might be able to meet up with comrades."

"Good idea Exile, lead the way." Simba said with a smile on his face.

The two of them soon started their walk through the cavern.

Colt and Nanuq

"We just had to get lost down here, didn't we!?" shouted a voice that bounced off the cave walls.

"Well…it vas your fault that we're in this situation!" shouted a voice right back.

"Will you two calm down" a voice said as it intervened into the conversation.

The people who were arguing with each other were Blitz and Colt. Nanuq and Colt had woken up after the avalanche. The two boys had found themselves as dogs and wearing the same clothes when they were kidnapped by those men in uniforms. They quickly met up with Blitz and that's when Colt and the Doberman started biting at each other's throats.

"What do you mean it was our fault?!" yelled Colt in question as he glares at Blitz.

"You and your team leader had attacked a bus full of people, and then your friend here trapped my feet under tick, not to mention cold, ice. Then that avalanche falls down on us after you lead us to a cave, and that's why it's all your entire fault!" shouted Blitz as he throws his arms up above his head.

"Oh sure…blame us for all of your problems," scoffed Colt as he turns his head away from the Doberman. "Why not blame the whole universe while you're at it."

"That's enough!" shouted Nanuq at the top of his lugs.

Blitz and Colt were surprised at Nanuq's sudden shout and quickly turns to him.

Nanuq glares at them with his hands on his hips: "Will you two just grow up; right now we have a situation on our hands. And that's to find a way out of this cavern."

"Okay Mr. Smart-guy, where do we go?" mocked Colt with a glare of his own.

"Give me a minute," answered Nanuq as he lifts his nose up into the air. "I've suddenly noticed that my nose had picked up the slightest hit of air in this cavern."

"Oh brother," grumbled Blitz as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Nanuq ignored the Doberman as he sniffed the air for a moment then started walking to the right. Colt huffs at this and followed the Malamute with the Doberman following behind.

Alexander and Tom

"It's just my luck to get trapped in an ice cave with a rambling Sheepdog, and a boy who think of himself as a werewolf." Tom grumbled as he, Alexander and Shag walked down the cavern.

"It's not so bad," Alexander said with a wolf smile.

"Oh really wolf-boy?" questioned Tom as he glares over at Alexander. "Then how do you explain about our new body forms?"

"Um…well," Alexander said with hesitation as he scratched the back of his head.

Tom and Alexander had awoken when they found themselves in their dog forms with their regular clothes on them. And they also found the black collars hanging around their necks as well. Alexander was surprised to see himself as a wolf and nearly thought that he was a werewolf, but Tom had knocked some sense into the boy by telling him that he was being an idiot.

The two boys quickly met up with Shag, but when Shag first saw them he had quickly curled up into a ball and placed his hand/paws over his eyes. It took Alexander some time to calm the sheep dog down and their pretty much where they are now.

"I hope we get out of here soon or else we'll all wind up as popsicles." Tom voiced as they walked down the icy cavern. "And I really hope that this collar will come off soon, it's really starting to annoy me."

"You're not the only one," added Alexander as he started fiddling with his collar that was hanging around his neck. "This collar is really heavy, whose idea was it to create these heavy collars any way?"

"You're asking me?" questioned Tom as he looks over at Alexander with his left eyebrow raised at the wolf-boy.

Shag started rambling about something that Tom couldn't understand.

"What exactly are you saying fluff-ball?" questioned Tom again as he stops and turns his attention to Shag.

"I think he said that the only way to get these collars off is to find one of his friends, Exile," Alexander said as he repeated what Shag had said.

"Hah!" scoffed Tom with his nose up in the air, "Like _you_ can understand this guy."

"I can understand a few words that he is talking about." Alexander said as he blushed under his grey fur from embarrassment.

Tom blinks at Alexander for a moment before throwing his arms up in the air. "That's just great!" he shouted, "I'm with a Scotland boy that understands dog language!"

Alexander frowns when he heard Tom's statement to him. Two minutes with this guy and already Alexander started to hate him.

'_Why did I have to get lost with him?_' thought Alexander with a huff.

Alexander hoped that they get out of here soon so that he can go home, and wake up hoping that this was just some crazy dream.

Roger and Hunter

Hunter's steps echoed against the icy walls of the cave as he carried Roger on his back. Roger was quiet for most of the trip as he rode on top of Hunters back.

"Hunter?" asked Roger as he broke the silence between the two of them.

"Yeah kid" answered Hunter as he looks over his shoulder at Roger.

"I was wondering," said Roger as he thought over the words that he was going to ask. "How are we going to find the others? I mean…there's a pretty slim chance in finding our group members without some sort of clue to look for them."

"Well there's one go thing about being a dog, you get to have a very keen nose on finding things." Hunter pointed out with a smile.

"Really?" questioned Roger with one eyebrow raised upwards.

"Yep," answered Hunter with a nodded of his head before lifting his head up into the air. "You just have to follow your nose on where you want to get to."

Roger wasn't sure to believe what Hunter was saying or not, but he decided to give it a try. Roger lifted his nose up into the air and started to sniff. Cold air came into his nostrils but another smell came with it.

"I think I smell something," declared Roger as he looks at Hunter.

"Me too," said Hunter as he looks up ahead. "It smells like Exile, and I think he's found one of the six kids."

"Then they must be close by," Roger pointed out with a smile.

"Then we better get tracking," Hunter said with a smile of his own as he started walking down the icy cavern again.

Will the team meet up again? You just have to wait and see next time on Road Rovers.

To be continued


	5. Together at last, homeward bound

Living a different life

I do not own the Road Rovers, but the characters that I made up are mine.

132

Together at last, homeward bound 

Roger was feeling a little tired as he rode on Hunter's back. He let's out a light yaw before resting his cheek against the golden retriever's right shoulder.

"You doing okay kid?" asked Hunter as he looked over his shoulder to look at Roger.

"Yeah, I'm okay," muttered Roger in a tired voice as he answered Hunter's question. "I'm just getting a little tired that's all."

"Just make sure you don't fall asleep." Hunter warned, "If you fall asleep in this cold, then you might not wake up ever again."

When Roger heard what Hunter had told him he quickly shook his head to get rid of the sleepiness.

"I'm awake, I'm awake!" exclaimed Roger with a determined look on his face.

Hunter chuckled at the boy's enthusiasm. He then heard voices up ahead of them. He looked out in front of him as he saw two shadows heading towards them. Hunter instantly recognized one of the voices.

"I'm pretty sure that we are going the right way." Said a thick Russian voice as the footsteps came closer.

"I hope so," said a young voice.

"Exile?" called Hunter to the person in front of him. "Is that you?"

"Comrade Hunter!" answered the Russian voice as the two came into view.

The Siberian husky, along with an African wild-dog, came up to the golden retriever. Roger was surprised to see two more dogs in front of him. He saw that the wild dog was wearing ragged cloths that were of no use to him in this cold cavern. Just then Roger's nose suddenly caught the sent of human and he looked over at the wild-dog child. Roger leaned over Hunter's left shoulder to get a better look at the African wild-dog.

"Am I ever glad to see you pal, are you okay?" Hunter asked the husky in front of him.

"Don't worry comrade; I'm fit as fitly it self." Exile said with a smile.

"Don't you mean; fit as a fiddle?" corrected Simba as he looked up at the husky.

"Is what I said." Exile said as he looked down at Simba.

Simba cocked an eyebrow at the husky before shrugging his shoulders. He suddenly noticed Roger looking at him and he started becoming a little uneasy. Roger saw that the African wild-dog was becoming uncomfortable with him staring at him, and gave a nerves smile at the new comer.

"S-sorry, I'm just kind of curious about you that's all." Roger apologized to the African wild-dog. "By any chance are you one of the five kids that have been transformed into a dog like me?"

This caught Simba by surprise at the question that Roger had asked him.

"How did you know?" asked Simba in suspicion.

"The nose knows." Roger answered simply as he lightly tapped his black nose with his left hand.

"Wait a minute," Simba suddenly said as he looked at Roger. "Are you also one of the kids that had taken by that made scientist?"

"I'm afraid so." Roger said with a frown on his face. "And I can see that you don't have a black collar around your neck like I have."

"That's because of Exile here." Simba answered with a smile as he looked up at the husky. "He was the one who took that heavy collar off my neck."

"Is that so" questioned Roger in a kidding voice. "Then I'll take your word for it."

Simba smiled at Roger, only a few minutes with this guy and he already started to like him.

"My name's Simba," he said as he introduced himself to Roger. "I'm from Africa, and I am twelve years old."

The tiger-wolf smiled back at the Wild-dog boy and decided to introduce himself as well. "I'm Roger the tiger-wolf, and I'm from San-Francisco. I'm also Twelve years old and I have an older brother named Tom."

Hunter looked at Roger with a smile along with Exile. It looked like these two will become the best of friends. Hunter soon descended himself slowly down to the ground, and gently sat Roger down on to the ground. Roger lightly dropped to the ground as Exile walked up to him to examine the collar around the wolf-tiger's neck, and frowned when he saw that it was the same collar that he had encountered around Simba's neck.

"It is same collar that I have taken off of comrade Simba." Exile growled as he looked back Hunter. "I don't get why crazy scientist had built such a thick and heavy collar that makes your neck hurt."

"Maybe because he's crazy scientist that has a few screws loose in that brain of his." Roger pointed out as he twirled his right finger in a circle at the side of his head.

Hunter, Exile, and Simba laughed at Roger's joke.

"That could be it," chuckled Hunter as he looked down at Roger. "No turn around so Exile can get that black collar off your neck."

Roger was reluctant at first but soon turned his back to Exile so that the husky can get the collar off him. Roger felt heat emanating from the back of his neck but he ignored it as he let Exile do his thing. The heat on the back of his neck suddenly stopped then without warning the collar was instantly ripped off. Roger rubbed his neck for a moment before looking back at Exile.

"Wow, thanks Exile." Roger said with a smile. "That collar was a real pain in the neck."

"You said it," Simba agreed as he rubbed his neck at where his collar once was.

"Okay gang, it's time that we started looking for the others." Hunter announced as he knelt down to the ground with his back turned to Roger.

Roger grabbed on to Hunter's shoulders, and with some help from Exile, he was able to get onto Hunter's back once again. They soon started to walk again, or in Roger's case rode, as they made their way down the cavern that Exile and Simba had came from.

Colleen and Akane

Akane and Colleen walked down the icy halls of the cavern with only their footsteps echoing throughout the cave. Akane was a little nervous as they walked through the mountain cavern. Colleen saw how nervous Akane was and lightly placed he left hand on Akane's right shoulder. Akane looked up at Colleen and saw the encouraging smile on her face.

"Don't worry love; we'll get out of here soon." Colleen assured as she looked down at Akane beside her.

Akane smiled at Colleen for she knew that she wasn't alone in this cavern. Just then the sound of footsteps alerted the two females and Akane quickly hid behind Colleen. Colleen took up her fighting stance as she waited for the person to come closer to them. Their voices grew louder as they came closer.

"If you ask me wolf-boy, we are just going around in circles." The first voice said.

"I'm not so sure that we're walking around in circles." A second voice said with a Scottish accent in it.

Colleen heard the third voice talk but it sounded more like rambling then talking to the two girls.

"And Shag agrees with me Mr. Angry Mic-Angry." The second voice answered again in a smug tone.

"Why don't you just stick your head in a hole!" shouted the first voice at the second voice.

The three people soon came into view with one of the people Colleen recognized.

"Shag!" shouted Colleen with a smile on her face.

When the white dog heard Colleen's voice and saw her in front of him he lets out a happy bark before running up to the Collie, and scooped her up into a hug. Akane was confused at the sight before her. Here was a normal looking dog that stood on his two back legs hugging Colleen as if she were his oldest friend. She soon turned her head toward the two other dogs in front of her.

One of them was Beauceron with black and tan fur, with a tan star on top of his head, wearing a clouded blue short sleeve T-shirt with a black rim that went around his chest and dark blue pants. His paw feet were bared with no shoes only tan-brown paws were shown before Akane.

The other dog was a dark-grey wolf wearing a green sweater and brown pants with black rims on the edge of his pants-legs. He had warm green eyes that looked like emeralds within the light of the cavern. His paw-feet were like the Beauceron's, for they did not bear any foot wear as well.

Akane also noticed that they were wearing the same collars like she was. She slowly walked up to them with nervousness in her heart. Once she got close to them, she started to introduce herself to them.

"H-hi" she said softly to the two males in front of her. "My name is Akane, and I came from Japan, Tokyo."

"Nice to meet you," said the wolf as he stuck his right hand out in front of him and Akane. "My name is Alexander, and I came from Scotland."

"Pleasure," Akane said as she brought out her left hand and shook hands with the wolf in front of her.

Alexander was suddenly pushed aside by the Beauceron as he took Akane's hand. Akane was taken by surprise at the Beauceron's strong grip on her hand.

"And my name is Tom, the best sports-men in San-Francisco and also a ladies-man." He introduced himself with a smirk.

"Um…yeah," muttered Akane a little unsurely as she winces under the pressure of Tom's strong grip on her hand.

Just then a metal glove hand suddenly placed itself on top of Tom's and Akane's hands. The metal glove hand suddenly squeezed tightly down on Tom's hand. The Beauceron let out a yelp at the sudden pressure on his hand and quickly backed off as he lets go of Akane's hand. Akane held her left hand in front of her chest with a pain written on her face. Colleen had walked over to Tom and Akane as she saw how tightly Tom was holding on to the Hovawart's hand. She quickly came to Akane's aid and squeezed Tom's hand tightly for him to let go of the young Japanese girl's hand.

"Are you alright love?" asked Colleen with concern as she took Akane's left hand into her hands.

"Yeah, I'm okay Colleen." Akane answered as she lets Colleen take her hand into hers.

Tom was rubbing his right hand in pain before glaring over at the Collie. "What the heck was that for?!"

Colleen looked over at Tom with a glare of her own. "You nearly crushed Akane's hand with that strong grip of yours." She said with a huff as she turned her head away from Tom.

Tom growled at the Collie before turning his back to her. Alexander walked up to Akane and Colleen with sympathy on his face.

"Are you okay?" he asked Akane softly.

"Yeah, I'm okay," answered Akane with a reassuring smile on her face. "I'm just glad that my hand hadn't been squished into tiny-tine pieces is all."

Alexander turned to Tom with a growl. Tom was taken by surprised when Alexander had growled at him and his proud look faded from his face. Colleen came between the two boys to separate them.

"Alright you two, settle down." She said as she looked at the two boys. "Right now we have bigger problems. We have to find away our way out of this cave and get you kids back to normal."

"Really? You mean it?" Alexander asked with a hopeful look on his face.

Colleen nodded her head yes in response to Alexander's question. "We just have to find the other's first, then we'll take you back to Road Rover HQ and get you back to your families as soon as possible."

"I can't wait to see my parents again." Akane voiced with a small smile on her face.

"Well I can't wait to get back home and shape up for my baseball practice at school." Tom boasted with his proud look returning onto his face.

Alexander rolled his eyes at the Beauceron before turning his gaze back on the Collie in front of him. "Do you know where there might be another way out of this cave Mrs. Colleen?"

Colleen looked around before she spotted another cave to their right. "I think that cave might lead us to the exit or to few more of my friends at least."

Shag started to ramble about something as Tom started at the sheep dog with a frown.

"What did he say?" asked Tom as he looked at Alexander.

"He said 'if we're lucky enough then we might run into the others on our way through the cavern'." Alexander answered as he repeated what Shag had said.

"Well I'll be blown, you can understand Shag?" asked Colleen with a look of surprise on her face.

Alexander looked over at Colleen before looking down at the ground as he blushed under his fur. "I can understand your friend a little bit if I listen to him really carefully."

"If you ask me, this wolf boy has gone crazy." Tom muttered with a frown with his eyes closed.

Alexander glared at the Beauceron before giving a huff and walking down the cave that Colleen had pointed out. Akane, Colleen and Shag quickly ran off to catch up to the dark-grey wolf while leaving Tom by himself. When Tom opened his eyes he saw that he was alone within the empty cavern.

"Hey, don't leave me behind!" shouted Tom as he chased after the others into cavern that they had taken.

Blitz's group

Blitz, along with Colt and Nanuq, were walking down the cavern while looking around for anyway on get out of this cold, icy, prison of theirs. Colt was shivering as he held his arms close to his chest.

"This place is s-s-so c-c-cold-d-d." He chattered as he stopped in his tracks.

Nanuq stopped beside the golden retriever and quickly took off his winter parka. He placed his parka over Colt's shoulders and that made the golden retriever look at the Malamute with a surprised look on his face. Nanuq was wearing a white sweater underneath his parka to keep him warm in the coldest weather of Alaska.

"T-thanks," stammered Colt with a confused look on his face. "But aren't you going to get cold if you don't wear this?"

"Well to tell you the truth I don't really feel that cold." Nanuq answered as he scratched the back of his head. "It must be all of this thick fur that I'm wearing on my skin."

"Or it could be what that crazy scientist said to us back when he had kidnapped us." Colt mumbled as he pulled his arms through the sleeves of Nanuq's parka.

"What scientist? What the heck are you going on about?" asked Nanuq with a confused look on his face.

Colt looked over at the Malamute with a confused look on his face as well.

"You mean you two don't remember about that scientist guy kidnapping you and how you were changed into dogs?" questioned Blitz as he came back to check on what was holding up the golden retriever and Malamute.

Nanuq looked at Blitz and shaked his head left to right in saying 'no' to the Doberman. Colt frowned before answering Blitz's question.

"I do remember being caught by two men who threw a net over me then stabbed me with this needle, and after that…nothing." He said as he started to tell the two dogs in front of him. "While I was in darkness I heard the voice of the man as he introduced himself in front of me. I think that you and the other kids were there as well. He told us about our skills and our powers that he had given to us. He said that you could withstand harsh cold weather and your sense of smell can pick up anyone's sent from a mile away."

"Then why were you attacking us while we were chasing you seven all over the mountain?" questioned Blitz again as he crossed his arms over his chest. "And why aren't you attacking me now?"

"I don't know," answered Colt with a shrug before lightly touching the black collar that hung around his neck. "It could be that these collars might have microchips that are wired to a long range remote control that can take over our minds. And since we're in this cavern the sonic waves of the remote control is being interfered by the mountain terrain. So that means we have our will power back and are pretty safe from the control of that mad man for now until we can figure out away to get these extremely heavy collars off us."

"Me too, for I'm allergic to pain if I have to fight you two," pointed out Blitz as he looked between the two K9-mutants.

"Then that's your problem, not mine." Colt mumbled as he rolled his eyes at the Doberman.

"Hey wait a minute," voiced Nanuq as he lifted his nose to the air. "I smell people coming. Two of them are dogs while the other two are humans, and their getting closer."

The footsteps soon became louder as the four people that Nanuq had smelled came walking towards them. The group soon reviled themselves to be Hunter, Exile, Simba and Roger.

"Hunter, Exile!" cried Blitz as he ran up to his two team mates. "Am I ever glad to see you two."

"Same here pal and I see that you found some of the other kids as well." Hunter said as he looked over at Nanuq and Colt.

"I sure did," boasted Blitz as he puffed out his chest.

Roger and Simba gave Blitz a funny look while Colt and Nanuq only shake their heads at the Doberman in disbelief. Just then Simba's ears picked up the soft foot steps of feet coming their way through the icy cavern behind Colt and Nanuq.

"Heads up guys!" barked Simba as he looked at the group before him. "There are more people coming towards us."

Hunter and the others looked to the long cavern passage way behind Colt and Nanuq as the golden retriever and Malamute look behind them to see who was coming towards them.

"I say that we're lost!" shouted a voice in anger.

"Oh be quiet Mr. Angry Mic-angry!" countered a Scottish voice in exasperation.

"Can't you two guy's not fight for a while as we're looking for a way out?" A young female voice said as they grew closer.

"Akane is right you two!" growled a British female voice. "You two are given be a bloomin' headache."

"Sorry" The two male voices echoed together.

Roger and the gang became quiet as they waited for the people to come closer to them. The people soon reviled themselves to be Colleen, Akane, Alexander, Tom and Shag.

"Colleen, Shag!" called Hunter with a large smile on his face.

"Hunter!" the Collie shouted as she and the others came towards the gang.

"Looks like Comrades are back together again!" exclaimed Exile as he looked at the group before him.

"You said it," Simba affirmed as he lightly punched the Russian Husky in the arm.

Roger looked over Hunter's shoulder to see the Beauceron in front of him. He saw the cloths and the smelled the sent that the dog was carrying. Roger quickly realized who the Beauceron was.

"Tom is that you?" asked Roger in a hopeful tone.

The Beauceron looked over at Roger with a confused look on his face before walking up to Hunter and him.

"Who are you and how did you know my name?" questioned Tom.

"Tom it's me, Roger," answered the stripped wolf as he looked into the eyes of his brother.

Tom stared long and hard into the yellow eyes of the wolf/tiger before realizing who it was.

"Roger?" Tom asked in a soft tone.

Roger nodded his head with a large smile spreading over his face. Tom soon smiled as well, for he was finally was reunited with his younger brother.

"Roger! It is you!" cried Tom as he felt tears coming into his eyes.

"Me too," voiced Roger with a smile of his own.

"Alright, alright we're back together but now what!?" boomed Colt as he glared at the group in front of him.

"Well first off we got to get those collars off the rest of you guys." Hunter answered as he lightly placed Roger down onto the icy cavern floor again. "Exile will help you guys in that category while Colleen helps Roger here with his ankle. After that we'll look for a way out of this place. Once we do we'll get you guys back to Road Rover HQ and turn all of you back into your normal selves."

"And that's when we get to go home." Alexander added with a smile before looking down at his hands. "My country is not to keen on wolves and if I show up in this werewolf form then I will be chased out of existence."

"For the first and last time Scotty you are _**not**_ a werewolf." Tom grumbled as he glared at the wolf-boy.

"And my names not Scotty its Alexander!" growled the wolf in anger as he glared at Tom.

"Stop bickering you two!" exclaimed Colleen as he got between the two K9-mutants. "If we're going to get out of here alive then we have to work _together_."

Tom and Alexander's ears dropped down to their skulls with shame. Roger smiled slightly as he watched his two older brother bicker with Alexander. Akane soon came up to him and sat down beside the wolf/tiger.

"Hi," Akane softly said with a small smile on her face. "I'm Akane and I came from Japan, Tokyo. What's your name?"

"I'm Roger and I came from San Francisco." He said as he introduced himself to the Hovawart. "And I'm pretty sure that you've already met my brother Tom, right?"

"Yeah," muttered Akane as she looked down at her hand. "And I have to say that he really has a strong grip for he nearly turned the bones in my hand to dust."

"What!?" gasped Roger as he looked at Akane with disbelief. "I knew my brother was strong, but never that strong. What happened?"

"Nearly broken her hand off that's what happened." Colleen answered as she came up to Roger and inspected his ankle. "I have to say Gov' you got off lucky, this cut on your ankle isn't that deep but we have to clean it before it gets infected."

Roger nodded his head in agreement as Shag came up to them and pulled out a medical kit from out of his fur. Colleen took the medical kit and opened it up as she pulled out some medicine, bandages and wrappings. Colleen dabbed some of the liquid medicine onto a cotton ball before dabbing it onto the cut on Roger's ankle. Roger gave out a small yelp as he felt the medicine sting on his cut. Colleen quickly puts the bandage on Roger's cut before taping it up.

"How's that Gov'?" asked Colleen as she looked at Roger.

Roger shrugged his shoulders before slowly standing up and leaning himself up against the wall for support. He applied some weight onto his hurt ankle and felt a little bit of pain at first, but it wasn't as intense as before. Roger started taking a few steps forward and limps a little on the walk. Hunter came up to Roger's side to make sure to catch him if he fell over. Roger soon stopped in his steps before turning to Colleen with a smile.

"It feels a lot better." Roger answered to the Collie. "Thank you so much Colleen."

"Your welcome," replied Colleen with a smile.

"Okay, now that my brother's ankle is cured how are we going to get these collars off!" shouted Tom as he grabs the edge of his collar.

"Calm down Tommy," Exile said as he walked up behind Tom. "Just hold still while I get heavy collar off you."

"Fine, but hurry up!" ordered Tom as he stood as still as a statue.

Exile soon used his heat vision as he melted the metal collar. Once the metal started to brake under the heat of Exile's heat vision that Tom started to pull on it. And in a matter of seconds the collar broke under Tom's immense grip.

"That's better," sighed Tom as he rubbed his neck.

"Alright, whose nextski?" asked Exile as he looked over at the other kids who still had the collars on them.

"I am," answered Akane as she walked up to the Husky.

One by one the kids that had collars on them came up to Exile to get them off, and they were all soon free from the collars that had once hung around their necks.

"Oh man, am I ever glad that those collars are off." Colt announced as he rubbed his neck as the group started walking down the caverns again.

"Me too," Alexander added as he looked over at the Mexican golden retriever. "A few more seconds with that collar then my neck would have snapped."

Roger was on Hunter's back again as they walked through the icy caverns of the mountain. Hunter had insisted that Roger rode on his back for a while until the scratch on the boy's ankle had healed. Hunter had decided to put Nanuq up in front with him so that the Malamute's sensitive nose can help them find a way out of the cave. Nanuq was sniffing the air for a minute until he caught the faint odder of fresh mountain air up ahead.

"This way," he announced as he lead the group through the cavern to a dead end.

"Oh great," grumbled Tom as he glared at Nanuq. "You lead us into a dead end. NOW WE'LL BE TRAPPED DOWN HERE FOR THE REST OF OUR MISERABLE LIVES!"

"Calm down Tom," assured Roger as he looked at his older brother. "I'm sure we'll find our way out of here soon."

"He's right," Nanuq suddenly said as he rubbed his right paw hand over the wall and felt a small crack in the wall. "And I can smell fresh air coming from this little crack here."

"So?" questioned Colt as he gave Nanuq a funny look.

"_So_ if we use Exile's heat vision to melt this ice wall then we might have a chance on getting out." Nanuq explained as he looked over at Colt.

"But it will take forever to melt that thick layer of ice." Blitz complained as he walked up to Nanuq.

"Hey don't worry about it." Tom proudly said as he walked up in front of the group to show off his muscles. "With my muscles to help us we'll get through this wall in no time flat."

"Hold up there Mr. Muscle-Man." Alexander interjected as he walked up to the Beauceron. "What if you accidentally punch too hard and the ice from up above our heads come crashing down on us?"

"Wolf-boy has a point you know." Colt replied as he agreed with Alexander. "One slip up and we'll be goners for good."

"Maybe I can help." Akane offered as she stepped up in front of the group.

"You!" laughed Tom in disbelief as he held his sides. "What can a girl like you do to help us?"

Akane glared at Tom and soon turned her attention to the icy wall in front of her.

"I'm not sure what I can do, but I'm willing to help whenever I can." Akane replied as she glared hard at the wall.

Without the Hovawart knowing it her eyes started glowing red and to everyone's shocking surprise a red beam of light suddenly shot out of Akane's eyes. The red light landed on its mark on the wall and the wall of ice started to melt away.

"Wow…" was all Tom could say as he stared in amazement.

"Alright comrades step aside, workers coming through." Exile announced as he stepped up beside Akane and shot his heat laser eyes at the same spot where Akane's eyes were at.

In a matter of seconds a large hole was made for the others to escape. Akane and Exile soon stopped their work as they glanced at one another with a proud look in their eyes. Tom was speechless as he stared at the hole that was in front of them.

"Alright gang, lets move out!" shouted Hunter as he looked at the group before him.

"Yes sir!" shouted the group as they started out of the hole.

Hunter was the one to step out into the sunshine first and was momentarily blinded before his eyes adjusted to the light. Once they did he gasped at what he saw in front of him. Roger gasped as well at what he saw before him. Standing in front of Hunter and Roger were twenty men with their guns pointed straight at them. The others were soon standing behind them and saw that they were surrounded.

"I would not have predicted this." Hunter said as he looked at the men surrounding them.

"Well, well if it isn't the Road Rovers." A voice said from out of nowhere.

The Road Rovers turned to see who had spoken as they saw who was standing before them. It was none other then Dr. Tomes William. Roger grips Hunter's shoulders tightly as he glared at the man in front of them. This was the scientist that had changed him and the others into K9-mutants.

"I see that you've found my experiments, how benevolent of you." Dr. Tomes William chuckled as he saw Roger and the others standing before him. "Now, if you'll be so kind in handing over those children to us we'll let you go without a scratch or a bullet. And you can forget all about those little brats that you were forced to bring back by your master."

Akane became scared as she grabbed Colleen's right hand with both of her hands. Colleen wrapped her fingers around Akane's right hand in reassurance. Simba hid behind Exile along while Alexander, Nanuq and Tom stood their ground in front of the men in front of them. Colt was nowhere to be seen within the group but the Road Rovers didn't seem to notice that he was gone. Roger was having doubts that Hunter and the gang might not want to protect them. And that they might hand him, along with the others, over to this mad scientist. Hunter soon surprised Roger by shouting out at the scientist before them.

"I will never give Roger or the any of the kids to you!" shouted the Road Rover leader. "You took them away from their homes and families. Then you've changed them into something that you haven't even considered asking them if they want it or not. That's why it's a Road Rover's job to help people. So there is no way I'm going to hand Roger or the others over to you."

"So be it." Dr. Tomes William said before turning to his men. "Get ready to fire on my command!"

"Tom, come over here," whispered Hunter as he looked over at Roger's older brother.

Tom quickly ran up to Hunter as the golden retriever lowered his body to the ground as Roger placed both of his paw/feet on the ground. Tom grabbed one of Roger's arms and slung it over his shoulders before backing up to Akane and the group. Hunter soon stood up again with the Road Rovers stepped up to the front of the line as they stood in front of the K9-mutant children to protect them.

"Get ready!" shouted one of the men as the raised their guns up to fire upon the Road Rovers.

Two of the men were about to fire when some unseen force suddenly forced their heads towards each other. The two men were instantly knocked out when their heads were clonked together. All of the men were quickly distracted when they saw that two of their comrades were out cold on the snowy ground, and were trying to figure out who did that. that gave Hunter and the gang a chance to charge at the men and take them down.

Hunter had punched three of the men as he disarmed them from their weapons. Colleen took down four men with her martial arts moves, while Blitz chomps down on the men's behinds and slicing their guns into tiny pieces. Exile froze a few men with his ice vision while Shag used a missal launcher to fire at the men. But the sheep dog was pointing the missal the wrong way and Hunter had to tell Shag to turn the missal launcher around which winded up with Shag turning his whole body around and fired the missal launcher. The missal was sent flying through the air as it hit the ground were four men were standing on and they were sent flying into trees while being knocked unconscious.

Roger and the others stood on the side lines as they watched the fight unfold before them. Simba suddenly heard footsteps behind him and quickly turned to see four of the soldiers coming towards them.

"Guys behind us!" shouted Simba as the others quickly turned and saw the soldiers as well.

"Guys, assemble!" ordered Tom as he quickly placed Roger on the ground and stood in front of his little brother to protect him.

One of the soldiers suddenly shot towards Tom with his arms out in front of him.

"Come here you little runt!" shouted the man as he tried to grab Tom around the neck.

Tom smirked as he grabbed the wrists of the man and started to crush them without much effort. The man lets out an agonizing scream as Tom crushed his wrists with his bare hands. Tom soon lets go of the man's right wrist before grabbing the man's suite and throwing him into a trunk of the tree. The other three men ran toward Alexander, Nanuq and Akane.

Nanuq quickly dodged to the side before the man could tackle him to the ground. The man fell into a snow drift with Nanuq standing behind him with a smirk on his face.

"Ah, did the poor little baby fall down?" questioned Nanuq in a mocking tone.

The man quickly jumped to his feet as he shook off the snow from his body. "Why you little brat of a dog!" shouted the man in anger as he glared at Nanuq.

"Well looks like somebody's in a hot temper." Nanuq chuckled as he smirked at the man in front of him. "I think it's time that you _chilled_ out!"

Nanuq quickly took a breath in before releasing a cold blast of air upon the man in front of him. The man was instantly frozen solid by the Malamute's icy breath. Nanuq stopped breathing his icy breath upon the man and smirked.

"That will hold him for a while." Nanuq noted with a smirk as he turned away with pride.

Akane was in a hand to hand combat with a man that was trying to grab her. Akane blocked the man's hands with her fists and quickly did a round house kick to the side of his ribs. The man withers in pain as he held his side. Akane soon did a down side cut to the side of the man's head which gave him a burning headache.

"_**Hiya!**_" shouted Akane as she kicked the man in the gut and sent him flying into a tree.

Alexander stood in front of a man that was stocking toward him. Alexander raised his fists up in front of him for defense.

"Oh, so the little wolf-boy wants to box with the big boys huh?" questioned the man with a scoff.

The man soon brought up his fists and tried to sock Alexander with a round house punch, but Alexander quickly ducked under the punch before giving a hard punch into the man's stomach. The man quickly backed up as he withered in pain by the blow that Alexander had given him. Alexander saw his chance and quickly did a round house kick underneath the man's legs. The man fell to the ground and was knocked out cold when he hit the side of his head on a rock. Alexander stood up as he looked down at the man.

"Sorry, but it was for your own good." Alexander said with a shameful look on his face.

Roger was impressed by how Tom, Nanuq, Akane and Alexander had taken down those men that were trying to catch them again. Just then a strange feeling came over his body and he quickly turned his gaze up towards the hill that over looked the hole that he and the gang had came out of. He saw one of the men pointing his gun at Simba, which held a tranquilizing dart in it. Roger quickly jumped to his feet without feeling the pain of his ankle and quickly shot towards Simba. The man shot the tranquilizing dart at Simba and smirked as the dart shot towards its mark, but the man's smirk changed to shock when a red blur shot out of nowhere and grabbed the young African Wild-dog. The only thing that the tranquilizing dart hit was the snow white ground.

"Rats!" cursed the man as he punched the ground.

Somewhere off to the side between the tree line were Simba and Roger sitting on the ground. The stripped wolf sitting on the ground panting for breath. Simba was sitting beside Roger with a shocked look on his face before looking at the wolf be side him.

"Thanks," said Simba with a grateful smile on his face.

"Hey…don't mention it," panted Roger with a smile of his own. "That's what friends do."

"And that's the last thing that you will ever do." A voice said behind Roger and Simba.

The two boys quickly turned to see a man aiming a gun at them. Roger and Simba were frozen with fear when they saw the gun pointed at them. The man was about to fire on them when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Excuse me," a voice said behind the man.

The man turned to see who was disturbing him, but the only thing he saw was a fist coming into his face. Roger and Simba cringed as they saw the man get a face full of fist before falling to the ground unconscious with a few teeth knocked out of his mouth. Roger and Simba looked up at the person who had saved them and saw Hunter standing in front of them.

"That should keep him down for a while." Hunter said with a smile as he looked over at Roger and Simba. "Are you two okay?"

"We're fine," answered Roger with a smile as he looked up at the golden retriever before him. "That's twice you helped us."

"Hey that's what a Road Rover does, we help people." Hunter said with a smile.

All of the men were being taken down one after another by the Road Rovers. Dr. Tomes William was becoming enraged by what was happening around him. And he knew that if he didn't do something fast then his perfect experiments will get away from him. He suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see who it was. The person that was standing behind him was none other than Colt.

"Hello professor." Colt growled as he cracked his knuckles in anticipation.

Dr. Tomes William started taking a few steps back when he suddenly bumped into something behind him. He turned and saw that he had bumped into a face of a cliff. Colt started stocking towards him with an icy glare that was even colder then the snow around them.

"Please no," begged Dr. Tomes in fear as he watched Colt walking closer to him. "Please, have mercy on me."

"Why should I give you mercy after what you've done to me?" questioned Colt in anger as he stocked closer to the scientist like a wolf stocking its prey. "You deserve to be punished for your crimes after what you have done to me."

"No wait!" shouted William as he raised his hands up in front of him. "What if I told you that I have the cure that can return you to your normal human self?"

"Why should I believe that?" questioned Colt with a growl as he stocked closer to the scientist before him. "You were the one that changed me into what I am, and now you will pay the price."

"Colt stop!" shouted Alexander as he ran up in front of the golden Retriever.

"Out of my way wolf boy!" growled Colt in anger as he glared at the Alexander. "This doesn't concern you."

"Colt!" at the mention of his name, Colt turned to see who had spoken and saw Roger standing in front of him with Hunter and the gang behind him.

Roger limped up to the Mexican golden retriever with a serious look on his face. Colt growled at Roger as they looked straight into each other's eyes. Roger's eyes held a strong power that soon dominated over Colt's cold hard glare.

"Colt even if you get your revenge against this guy it can never change the fact of what had happened to us." Roger explained as he tried to reason with the Mexican child. "Besides if you beat him down right now then that will only show that you are no better than him."

Colt stared hard into the golden eyes of the twelve year old for a moment as he considered what Roger had said to him. If he beat this scientist up now then what will that prove for him? William saw his chance as he quickly raised his gun up to shoot a tranquilizing dart on Colt. But before he could pull the trigger he was suddenly bonked on the head by Hunter who saw what he was going to do.

Roger and Colt looked to see Dr. Tomes William on the ground unconscious. Roger looked up at Hunter with a smile and the golden retriever returned it with his own. All of the men were gathered into one place where they were tied up with their wrists and ankles bounded together. The police unite soon came to pick up Dr. Tomes William and his men while Roger and the gang went with the Road Rovers back to their HQ. Finally the nightmare was almost over for Roger and the others as they will be reunited with their families very soon. Roger was leaning against Nanuq for support as they made their way down the mountain towards the Road Rover jet.

"I can't wait to get home to my mom and dad." Akane voiced as they walked through the snow. "I bet they're really worried about me."

"Don't worry lov' once we return you to your original forms you'll all be back with your families in no time." Colleen reassured as she wrapped her right arm over Akane's shoulders.

"Considering that some of us have a family to return to." Simba mumbled quietly as he looked down at the snow covered ground under his paw/feet.

Exile came up to Simba and placed his left hand onto the young wild-dog's shoulder.

"Do not worry comrade," assured Exile with a smile. "You can stay at Road Rover HQ with us until we find a family that will adopt you."

Simba looked up at Russian Husky with a small smile on his face. Colt was legging behind the group as he kept quiet while they walked to the Road Rover jet. Colt didn't want to get into a conversation that involved families, for he had never experienced the love of having a mother or father. He remembered how he was abandoned streets when he was eight years old after he had abused by his foster parents. For his real parents had died when he was just a baby. Colt was suddenly knocked out of his senses when a snowball was thrown into his face. Colt shook the snow from his face and glared at the person that had thrown it. He saw Tom snickering a few feet away from him.

"Why you…"growled Colt quietly before bending down to the ground and gathered up some snow into his hands.

Tom was too busy snickering to notice Colt making a snowball in his paw/hands and throwing it at him. Tom winded up with a face full of snow when the snowball had hit his face. Colt started laughing out loud when he saw the white face of the Beauceron staring back at him. Hunter and the others looked back to see what was going on and saw Colt and Tom throwing snowballs at each other. Colt suddenly fired his snowball at Tom again and the young Beauceron quickly dodged to the side to avoid it. The snowball landed head on into Blitz's face. Colt and Tom stopped what they were doing to look at the Doberman before them. Snow dripped down from the Doberman's face with the corner of his mouth twitching.

"Oops," echoed Tom and Colt with worried looks on their faces.

Blitz soon turned his gaze on to Tom and Colt with a glare. "Who threw that snowball at me?"

"He did it!" tattled Tom as he points at Colt.

"He started it!" countered Colt as he pointed back at Tom.

"Did not!" argued Tom as he got into Colt's face.

"Did to!" shouted Colt as he shot back.

Before the two could go into an all out argument they were suddenly pelted by three snowballs. The two kids looked to see who had thrown the snowballs and saw Nanuq, along with Alexander and Blitz, standing in front of the group with a snowball in their hands. Akane was holding Roger up to help keep his balance as they watched the events unfold before them.

"I think you guys need to chill out." Nanuq joked as he smirked at Colt and Tom.

The gang soon went into a fit of laughter as they laughed at Nanuq's joke. Colt and Tom also joined in as well. Everyone knew that there was nothing to fear any more and that the children will soon be return to their families after they are changed back into human forms.

To be continued


	6. Joining the Road Rover team

Living a different life

I do not own the Road Rovers, but the characters that I made up are mine.

132

Joining the Road Rover Team

Roger and the other kids were sleeping within the seats that they were sitting in as the Road Rover jet flew over the desert. Tom and Colt were leaned up against one another while making loud noises as they snored in their sleep. Nanuq was leaning up against the window of the jet with Alexander leaning up against his left shoulder. Simba was sleeping on the floor with a blanket over his body.

As for Roger and Akane, the two of them were leaning against one another as they slept. Roger suddenly started to stir as he slowly opened his golden yellow eyes before letting out a light yawn. Roger looked down at his right shoulder and saw Akane sleeping up against him. Roger smiled at the Hovawart before looking out the side-window of the Road Rover jet to see nothing but desert beneath them. He looked down at his claw hands and sighed. This will be their final step in their journey to becoming human again.

Roger's ears picked up footsteps coming towards him and Akane's seats. He looked up from his claw hand to see Colleen walking towards them.

"Hey Colleen," greeted Roger as he looked up at the Collie before him. "What's going on?"

"We're going to be landing at Road Rover HQ's very soon gov'." Colleen answered in a soft voice so as to not awaken Tom and the others.

"Okay, I'll wake everyone up to let them know that we're landing." Roger said as he started to shift around in his seat.

Colleen nodded her head before returning back to the front of the Road Rover jet. Roger started to lightly sake Akane's shoulder to wake her up. Akane lets out a light moan before opening her brown eyes and sitting up in her seat.

"Morning Akane," greeted Roger with a smile as he looked down at the Hovawart beside him. "Did you have a good sleep?"

"Yes thank you," answered Akane as she rubbed her right eye. "So…what's up?"

"We're going to be landing at Road Rover HQ soon so I need your help in waking up the others." Roger said as he answered Akane's questioned.

"Okay," voiced Akane as she stood up from her seat and started walking over to Simba to wake him up.

Roger followed pursuit and winched a little as he still felt the pain from his ankle. He soon limped over to his brother and Colt. He placed his right hand on Colt's shoulder and started to lightly shake him. Colt mumbled something in his sleep before opening his eyes and sitting straight up in his seat while giving out a large, loud yawn. Tom soon woke up as well and looked over at his younger brother.

"What…where are we?" questioned Tom as he looked around at his surroundings. "Oh yeah, we're on the Road Rover jet."

Nanuq and Alexander woke up without Roger or Akane waking them up. Simba started to awaken when Akane started to lightly shake his shoulder. The seven kids soon sat up in their seats as they felt the plane starting to descend from the air. Tom looked out of his window to see nothing but sand below them until he saw the ground shifting. The sand started to shift as a metal trap door rose from out of the ground.

"Wow!" exclaimed Tom and the other children started to look out of their own windows from the jet to see what was going on.

The jet soon flew into the entrance before the door to the entrance closed behind it. Roger and the gang quickly sat back in their seats and buckled themselves in as they prepared for landing. The Road Rover Jet slowly came to a stop as its wheels appeared from underneath it as it lightly landed on the runway. Once Roger was sure that the ride was over he started to unbuckle his seatbelt from around his body.

Tom and the others soon followed as they unclipped their seatbelts. Akane helped Roger up to his feet and let him lean against her as they started to exit the Road Rover jet. The door to the jet opened and the gang started to file out. Roger and the others were surprised at what they saw in front of them.

They were all standing in a huge hanger that held all sorts of vehicles of different kinds. Tom was the most impressed as his mouth hung wide open. Colt lets out a whistle as he looked at the motorcycle in front of him. Alexander gave Tom a funny look before he closed the Beauceron's jaw before a fly flew into his gapping mouth.

"This place is amazing," commented Roger as he and Akane descended down the stairs of the plane.

"I'll say," added Nanuq as he followed behind the two.

"Welcome to Road Rover HQ guys," announced Hunter as he turned to Roger and the gang. "The secret base of the entire dog teams from around the world."

Before Roger or the others could respond to what he had said a huge door that they were standing in front of started opening before them. Hunter and the gang quickly stood to attention in front of the door as a man wearing a white lab coat, brown pants and black shoes stood before them. The man had white hair that extended to his shoulders and white eyes stood standing before them.

"Welcome back Road Rovers," greeted the man in front of them.

"Glad to be back Master," said Hunter as he saluted to the man along with the other Road Rovers.

Roger and the others were at a lost for words as to what they should do until the man turned to them.

"I see that you've brought the children back safe and sound." The man said with a smile.

"Um…uh," started Roger in a quiet voice as he tried to talk, but he was suddenly interrupted by his older brother.

"So you're the man that can up change us back into humans right?" questioned Tom with a smug look on his face.

"Tom!" hissed Roger in warning as he glared at his brother.

"Yes, I am the one that can help you and the other children return back to your normal forms." The man answered with a nod of his head. "And I have everything ready for you just before you all had arrived. Follow me and I will show you."

The man soon turned away from them and started to walk into another room. Roger, Tom, the children and the Road Rovers followed the white haired man to another room were there were seven chambers standing in front of them. Roger and the gang couldn't hold back their excitement as they're eyes laid on the chambers in front of them. Once they step into those chambers they will be home free.

"Alright!" cheered Tom as he pumped his fist into the air before walking towards the camper with his chest puffed out.

Roger and the others were about to fall into step behind his brother before he stopped while making Akane stop as well while looking at him confused. He had a feeling that there was something else that they should know about. He turned his head towards the man and saw a sad frown imprinted on his face.

"Um…sir," started Roger as he looked at the man before him.

The white haired man turned to Roger when the young wolf/tiger got his attention.

"I'm guessing that there's more to this than what you're letting on, huh?" questioned Roger as he looked suspiciously up at the man before him.

"I'm afraid you are right Roger." The man answered with a sigh. "You see…those chambers can change you back into humans, but…they can not take away your abilities that Mr. William had given to you."

Tom froze and the others stopped in their steps when they heard what the man said and they quickly turned to look back at him.

"Wait a minute, time out!" shouted Tom as he crossed his hands into a 'T' before letting his arms hang down to his sides. "Are you telling me that these machines can only change our forms and not fully make us human?"

"I'm afraid so Tom." The man answered with a sad nod.

"Well that's just great," grumbled Tom with a deadpanned face.

"Tom!" shouted Roger as he glared at his brother again.

Tom cringed after he heard Roger shout at him and gave his brother a surprised look as he turned his gaze on him. Roger gave a huff before looking over at the white haired man again.

"Sorry about my brother sir," apologized Roger with a small smile as he turned to look at the man again. "Sometimes he forgets his manners as well as his tongue."

"That's alright," said Master with a chuckle. "But there is a way to keep your powers under control."

"There is?" asked Akane hopefully as she looked up at the white haired man along with Roger.

"Yes," answered Master with a nod of his head. "But I can only give them to you once you are all back to your normal forms."

Akane, Colt, Nanuq, Alexander, Simba and Tom turned their gazes on Roger to see what he has to say. Roger was surprised to see all of the kids eyes turned to him.

"Why are you guys looking at me?" questioned Roger as he looked at the others in front of him.

"Do we have to spell it out for you?" questioned Tom with a grumble. "For us to make sure that these machines are safe, you are to be the first one to test them out."

"Eh?" was all Roger could say before he figured out what they wanted him to do. "You mean that I'm supposed to become the test subject again!?"

"Are you sure that such a good idea?" asked Akane with a worried look on her face.

"Listen to me kiddies!" Tom growled in anger as he glared at the younger group members before him. "I'm the oldest here and you guys have to do whatever I say, you got that!"

Roger glowered at his older brother before exchanging a look with Akane.

"Is he always this bossy?" whispered Akane with a frown.

"Yep, every single day," answered Roger with a nod of his head.

With the Road Rovers, Hunter and the others were watching the argument between the children. Hunter was shaking his head while he listened as Tom started barking out orders to Roger and the group as he looked at Tom with disapproval. Colleen was also looking at Tom with a frown of her own. Exile and Blitz were off to side as they started whispering to each other.

"That boy is more of a 'bossy-pants' than you," whispered Exile within the Doberman's left ear.

"I agree," mumbled Blitz with a nod of his head.

Colt glared at the oldest member of the group before coming up with an idea.

"Why don't we let _Stripy_ try it," Colt said with a smirk as he looked at group before him. "It's only fair since our fearless leader is too scared to try it himself."

"Huh?" said Tom with confusion as he looked at Colt.

Roger looked at the young golden retriever for a moment before understanding what Colt was trying to do, and decided to play along.

"Yeah, you're probably right Colt." Roger sighed with a shrug of his shoulders as he stopped leaning against Akane. "I am the only one that can take this chance. I'm just sorry that my older brother is nothing but a coward."

Akane, Nanuq, Alexander, and Simba looked at Roger with surprisement before the striped wolf looked at them and winked his right eye at them. The others soon caught on and they started getting into the action as well.

"Oh, yeah" chirped Simba as he rested his hand behind his head. "I guess the golden guy is right, Roger is the only one that can do it."

"What!?" shouted Tom in anger as he glared at the African Wild-dog.

"He's right, he's right" sung Akane with a nod of her head with her arms crossed over her chest. "Roger-Kun is the only who can do it."

"Yep," murmured Nanuq with a nod, along with Alexander. "Because our oh-so-mighty leader has no guts to call his own."

"Ai, our leader has no guts what so ever." Alexander repeated with a smirk.

"That's it!" shouted Tom in anger as he glared at the younger team members of his group. "I'm going to show you guys that I'm no chicken!"

With that said, Tom started to stomp his way over to one of the seven chambers. Colt and Roger looked at one another before they started to share a quietly chuckle between themselves. The other three children started to quietly laugh along with them before they quickly became quiet as Tom stepped into the chamber. Roger decided to go next as he limped his way into one of the chambers that was right beside his brothers.

"Well gang, it's our turn now." Colt answered with a smirk as he looked over at the others.

The others soon entered the chambers as well. Once they were all inside smoke started to fill within the chambers as the bodies of the children disappeared. It took a few moments for the children within the chambers as they started to feel a change come over they're bodies before they finally stepped out from the smoke.

Roger was the first one to step out of chambers as he stood within the middle of the room. Roger slowly lifted on of his hands up to his face and saw the same, normal, human hand that he had so long ago.

"I'm…normal," whispered Roger with a smile as he looked down at his body.

He saw nether hide or hair of fur on his body. Roger turned to look at the other chambers as he saw his brother, and the five other kids walking out of the chambers as well. Each and every one of them was back to normal as they were before they were captured that mad scientist. Except for two who were looking down at they're hands or legs with surprisement.

Colt was checking the top of his head for any dog-ears and sighed when he found out that they weren't there: "Thank god, no more dog-ears."

"Yeah," said Simba before looking back behind him. "But…I was kind of getting use to that tail though."

"You're crazy," muttered Tom as he glared at the African-boy beside him.

"I-I can still see," stammered Akane with a smile before looking at Alexander who was standing beside her.

Alexander turned his head to look at her with a smile as well. This was the thing that the two of them have always wished for their whole lives. Roger looked back at the Road Rovers and their Master with a smile.

"Thank you, all of you" he said. "If you guys hadn't come along then we would have been stuck as slaves to that made man for life."

"Hey, don't sweat it." Hunter chuckled as he came up to Roger and ruffled the young boy's hair. "It's what we Road Rovers do."

Roger smiled up at the leader of the Road Rovers before looking over at the Master: "Sir, you said that you have some sort of device that will help in sustaining our powers so that we can live our normal human lives again, right?"

"Yes," answered the Master with a nod of his head before pointing to a table in the corner of the room.

Roger and the others walked, or limped over to the table to find a silver metal case lying on top of it. Roger started to unbuckle the clasps that held the lid of the case shut and once that was done Roger slowly opened it. He and the others saw seven metal bracelets with a golden oval imprinted in the middle of each of the bracelets.

"Bracelets…that's it?" questioned Tom in a monotone voice as he glared down at the bracelets before them.

"Tom, haven't you learned anything from our little adventure?" questioned Roger as he looked up at his older brother.

"Should I have?" muttered Tom as he gave his brother a deadpanned look.

"As my grandfather would always say 'Never judge a book by its cover'." Nanuq quoted as he lifted on finger up in the air.

"Nanuq is right young Tom." Master said as he stepped over to the young human children. "These bracelets will help you in keeping your powers in check as you live out your human lives again."

"Why didn't you say so!?" exclaimed Tom with a glare before turning to the Bracelets within the case as he plucked one of them out.

Roger was about to take one of the bracelets as well, but suddenly stopped when a thought came into his mind. He turned to the Master with a serious look within his eyes.

"Master, can I ask you a question." Roger asked.

"Of course Roger," answered the Master.

"Well…I've just came up with a thought." Roger admitted as he looked down at the ground. "I know that there is always a catch to this whenever I sense something is going to happen. Well…I'm guessing that you wouldn't just give us these bracelets without telling us the reason behind all this, right?"

"I'm afraid you're right again Roger." Master answered with a nod of his head. "You see, all of you are still quiet young and you all don't have the best control of your powers yet. So I am giving you a choice that you all must decide on your own."

"I hate it when you ask questions like that." Tom grumbled as he frowned at his younger brother.

Roger only shrugged his shoulders at his brother with a small smile imprinted on his face.

"So what are these choices?" asked Colt as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"You can all take the bracelets and go home with them while forgetting everything that has happened to all of you." Master answered as he looked at the young human children. "Or…you can all become Road Rovers. And Hunter, along with the others, can help you in controlling your powers a lot better than you had before. The choice is yours."

After hearing their choices Roger and the others went into thought as they tried to figure out on what of the two choices they should choose. Roger thought long and hard on the two choices before finally coming up with the decision that stuck within his mind as he looked up at the Master.

"I've made my decision," spoke Roger as he looked up at the Master. "I like to join the Road Rovers team."

"What!?" shouted Tom in disbelief as he stared his brother with wide-eyes.

"Same with me," answered Akane next with a smile.

"Me too!" barked Simba with a smirk as he pumped his fists up in front of him.

Colt, Nanuq, and Alexander nodded their heads 'yes' as well for they all wanted to learn how to control their powers better. Tom couldn't believe what was going on in front of him, but he soon gave in as he raised his right hand up in agreement as well.

Master smiled at the children for he knew that they had made the right choice: "Alright, if that is what you all choose."

Roger and the others nodded their heads 'Yes'. Roger looked over at Hunter with a smile with the golden retriever smiling back at him with a proud nod. Soon after the children's decision Roger, Tom, Nanuq, Colt, and Simba placed their respective bracelets on their writs. Akane and Alexander decided to put their bracelets on later once they got back home. Colleen decided to put a new bandage on Roger's ankle before the children were assigned to one of the Road Rover's who will take them home. Akane was going to be taken home by Colleen to Japan, while Alexander was assigned with Blitz who will take him back to Scotland. Exile volunteered to take Nanuq back to Alaska, and Hunter was left with Tom and Roger.

Simba didn't have any family to return to so he decided to stay behind in Road Rover HQ. Colt decided that he should go back to Mexico to see if his gang mates had survived on not getting caught by the cops. Hunter decided to take Colt along as well, but before the others could leave Master decided to tell Roger and the gang about their bracelets.

"Your bracelets don't just keep your powers under control. They can also act as communicators or transports whenever the Road Rovers or I need to talk you, or call on you for your help."

"Really?" asked Roger with excitement as he looked down at his bracelet that was attached to his left wrist. "Cool."

"Alright Road Rovers, lets hit the road!" called Hunter as he took Tom, Roger and Colt to the Street-Rover.

Exile and Nanuq took the Sky-Rover to travel to Alaska. Blitz and Alexander took the Jet-Rover with Colleen and Akane. Everyone was soon ready to head out to take the children home to their families. Once everyone had left Master decided to show Simba around Road Rover HQ.

San-Francisco

Roger was sitting in the front seat with Hunter while Colt and Tom were sitting in the back of the Street-Rover while the young blonde looked out the side-window. He was amazed at all of the buildings of San-Francisco.

"This is your home?" asked Colt as he looked over at Tom who was leaning up against the door of the car.

"Of course," answered Tom with pride. "After all, this town is going to be on the map when I sign up for Baseball and Basketball this season."

"Oh really?" questioned Colt skeptically as he gave Tom a dull look.

"He likes to dream," answered Roger as he looked at Tom and Colt from his seat. "My brother likes to boast a lot about stuff that involves around him and nobody else."

"What about you?" asked Colt as he looked at Roger with a smirk, "Don't you have anything to boast about?"

"Well…"started Roger as a small blush appeared on his face. "I actually don't have anything to be boastful about for I was never good at any types of sports except running."

"And running is all he's good for," snickered Tom quietly with a smirk still played out on his face.

Roger heard what his brother said and that got him a little upset. He turned away from Tom and Colt as he looked out at the front-window while slouching within his seat in depression. But he was soon brought out of hid depression when he felt Hunter pet his head to comfort him as Roger turned his head to look at him. Roger saw a smile played out on the golden retriever's muzzle as the leader of the Road Rovers looked at him.

"Don't pay any attention to your brother," encouraged Hunter cheerfully as he looked out of the front window again. "Besides, with your super-speed you could probably travel around the whole world if you want to."

Roger thought about what Hunter had said and shrugged his shoulders: "Who knows, maybe I could."

"Yeah you could," repeated Hunter with a chuckle when he saw Roger's and Tom's house coming into view. "Until then, you and your brother get a goodnights rest and Master will call you for training tomorrow. Unless you don't have anything planed for tomorrow."

"No, I don't think we have anything to do this summer." Roger answered as he pondered in thought.

"Come on Roger!" said Tom after he stepped out of the Street-Rover and was started walking towards the front door of their home. "We don't have all day to wait for your slow-pokiness."

Roger ignored what his brother had said and stepped out of the Street-Rover before turning to look back at Hunter once again.

"Thanks again for everything," said Roger with a smile. "I just wish that I could do something to return the favor."

"Hey, don't sweat it Roger." Hunter answered with a wave of his hand. "I'm just glade that the team and I were able to help you guys out. Just make sure you and your brother don't get into trouble, alright?"

"Alright," Roger chuckled with a nod of his head. "See you tomorrow."

Hunter watched as the twelve year old human slowly limped after his brother to the front door of his house for a moment before looking back at his last passenger.

"Ready to head back to New Mexico?" he asked.

Colt nodded his head to answer the golden retriever's question. Hunter started the Street-Rover again and hit the gas as he drove towards his next destination.

Nome Alaska

Nanuq was a little nervous when Exile had landed on to outskirts of Nome. He wasn't nervous of his grandfather welcoming him home, he was afraid of what Night-Star will think of him after his kidnapping. He will find out soon enough as he came towards his grandfather's home and the young boy started making his way towards the door. Nanuq quickly stopped when he heard a bark.

Nanuq turned his head towards the sound and saw Night-Star running towards him. Nanuq was prepared for the worse as he waited for Night-Star to stop in his tracks and start growling at him. But it never came for Nanuq suddenly found him self being tackled to the ground with Night-Star standing over him. The black husky started licking the young boys face with his tail wagging furiously within the air and Nanuq started laughing out of pure joy.

The door to the cabin suddenly opened as Nanuq, and Night-Star looked towards the door to see Nanuq's grandfather standing there with shock imprinted on his face. But that shock soon turned to joy as the old musher saw his grandson in front of him with Night-Star standing over top of him. Night-Star moved off of Nanuq as he let the young human boy sat up from the snowy ground and watched as Nanuq and his Grandfather share a fierce hug with one another.

The husky suddenly heard jet engines within the air and looked up to see a plane flying over their home and started letting out barks of thanks at the person within the jet. Nanuq and his grandfather separated from their hug as they looked up at the jet plane flying off in the distance and started waving at it.

Scotland

The Jet-Rover had landed in the air port of a town called Fife. Colleen had already sent to word out to Alexander's Aunt and Uncle that he was waiting for them there. Alexander had already put on his metal bracelet and was now being carried by Blitz as they waited for Alexander's uncle and aunt. They soon saw the couple coming towards them with a wheelchair in hand and Alexander was soon handed off to his uncle who placed him in the wheelchair. Once that was done Colleen, Blitz, and Akane were off to Tokyo Japan.

Jet-Rover

Akane was quiet throughout the whole trip as she looked out of the window of the Jet-Rover while holding her bracelet within her right hand. Colleen went to check on her and saw that there was something on the young girl's mind.

"What's on you mind lov'?" asked Colleen as she took a seat beside Akane.

Akane looked over at the adult collie before looking out at the window again: "I'm just wondering how Roger is doing."

"I'm sure he's doing just fine." Colleen answered with a reasuring smile. "After all he is with Huntie, so he'll be okay."

"That's good to know," spoke Akane as she looked at Colleen again with a smile.

"We're almost at Tokyo airport pretty dog girl's!" called Blitz from the drivers seat.

"Right, and whats your name again?" asked Colleen as she looked at Blitz while pointing her a finger at him.

Blitz turned to look at Colleen with a glare while Akane tried to stifl her giggles as she got ready to place the metal bracelet onto her left wrist. Once the bracelet was on her eyes became clouded once again in darkness, but the memories of the day's events still played out through her mind. And she still remembered the rainbow ice cave that she had been in before she met Colleen in it. The colors that she saw within that cave flashed across her vision and she could help but smile at the colors before her.

It had been the most exciting adventure that Roger and the others had ever encountered within their lives. And there was one thing that played out throught the childrens heads. Will there be other adventures like the one that they have witness in their beginning?

Only time will tell for they were part of the Road Rovers now and that means that they have responsibilitys to up hold within the group. Their fist training will begin tomorrow and so will their fist mission.

To be continued


	7. First mission nearing to life and death

Living a different life

I do not own the Road Rovers, but the characters that I made up are mine.

132

First mission nearing to life and death

Roger was working at his desk as he drew within his art book. It had been two weeks since he and the other children were returned to their families, well most of them anyways. Simba is still living with the Road Rovers and Colt is still running around the streets of Mexico with his gang while stealing things from the stores that they have strike with other members of their gang. Roger was living his normal life, along with his brother, while making sure to keep the secret of him being a Road Rover from his family and friends. Roger had been called to Road Rover HQ for training and learning about his new ability of speed and he was getting better at it. Roger was almost as fast as Hunter, but he still had a long way to go before reaching the golden retriever's super speed.

Roger had also made a strong bond with Hunter and some of the other kids had also made a strong bond with the other Road Rover team members as well. Akane and Colleen had grown closer to each other through the weeks of training. The two hung out with each other as if they were sisters or something. Tom was still the same as ever when working through the training routings, but more annoying, bossy, stuck-up, and selfish than ever. Roger was getting tired of his brother's attitude when he saw how stuck-up he was being in their training. Roger prayed that Tom will not act like this when they go on their first mission someday. Too bad that Roger's wish was not going to come true when they will start their fist mission by accident.

Roger was almost finished his drawing when he heard a beeping sound from on his left wrist. Roger looked down at the wrist band that he had received from Master two weeks ago. It was the one that was making the beeping noise. Roger pressed the blue button on the right side of the wrist band. A small microphone appeared on the top of the bracelet as two small doors slid away to revile it.

"This is Roger," he answered as he talked into the mike. "What's wagging Road Rover?"

"Hey Roger," greeted a voice over the other side of the mike. "Hunter here, I just called to tell you that the other kids had just arrived for their training session. Will you be coming to Road Rover HQ to train as well?"

"Oh, you bet!" exclaimed Roger with a large smile. "I'll be down at HQ in a few minutes."

"We'll be waiting." Hunter answered back over the radio, "Over and out."

"See you soon, Hunter." Roger chuckled before pressing the button again, and the small doors closed over the speaker again.

Roger pressed a small black button that was beside the blue button and in a flash, Roger was gone. Roger reappeared in a metal room that held seven chambers that were used for him and the others to change into their K9 forms. Roger took off his wrist band and placed it in a small metal case that was sitting wide open on a metal pillar that stood near one of the chambers. Roger placed his wrist band in the velvet of the metal case before closing the lid that bared his name on top of it. Roger soon stepped into the chamber with the doors of the machine closing behind him. Smoke filled up within the chamber until the doors opened again and Roger stepped out in his K9 form that he had taken on two weeks ago after his first adventure within the mountains of Himalayans.

Roger was wearing the same Road Rover uniform that the other Road Rovers wore within the base. Roger lets out a howl of excitement as he stood in front of the chamber.

"I just love this machine!" exclaimed Roger after he had finished his happy howling.

"Do you always have to say and do that?" a voice questioned from Roger's far left.

Roger saw his brother, in his Beauceron form, walking out of the chamber that he had entered himself. Tom had followed after his brother when Hunter had called him for their training session. Tom was also wearing the same Road Rover uniform like his brother with a bright red collar hanging around his neck. Roger was wearing a similar collar on his neck, but his wasn't that bright of a red like his brothers. The collar that Tom was wearing around his neck was the collar of leadership to show proof that Tom was the leader of the group, no matter how much the other's felt disgusted by it.

"I can't help it Tom," Roger said honestly with a lop-sided grin.

"Well make sure you can help it next time." Tom growled with a huff "Because I don't want somebody on my team being so enthusiastic about things."

Roger frowned at his brother with an angry glare glinting within his eyes: '_This brother of mine is really starting to get on my nerves!_'

"Now come on, let's get to the training grounds to see what the leader has in store for us." Tom ordered as he started walking away with his younger brother legging behind him.

Roger and Tom soon came to the gym where each of the other kids that they had meet and made friends with were training on the gym equipment while some of the Road Rovers were supervising them.

"This place sure is packed," muttered Tom with an unimpressed look on his face.

Just then, a Rottwiller that was strapped to a cart with a restraint jacket tied around his body hopped over to the two brothers. Roger smiled as the Rottwiller stopped beside him and his brother.

"Hey Muzzle," greeted Roger as he petted the Rottwiller on the head.

Muzzle gave a friendly bark back before hopping off again. Tom only shook his head for he was the only one that didn't like Muzzle. When Roger and the others were first called back into HQ they were quickly taken by surprise when Muzzle had suddenly hopped out of no where in front of them. After they were first introduced to Muzzle they were at first a little uneasy around him, but they soon got use to him and found out that he wasn't as crazy as they thought he was. Hunter was watching Simba spar with Akane when he noticed Tom and Roger standing behind him and smiled. He asked Colleen to keep an eye on Akane and Simba while he started helping the two brothers with their training.

"Hey you two," Hunter greeted as he walked up to the two brothers. "What took you guys so long?"

"We were just talking at the chambers is all," answered Roger with a shrug of his shoulders.

Hunter chuckled as he ruffled the young wolf/tiger's head: "That's fine; anyways I'm assigning Tom with Exile for training today."

"Alright!" cheered Tom as he ran over to where Exile was standing near the weights.

"Oh brother," grumbled Roger as he rolled his eyes upwards.

"While you and I work on your speed," continued Hunter with a wink.

Roger smiled at what Hunter had said and nodded his head in eagerly. Roger quickly followed Hunter to the beach where they could see how fast Roger had gotten. Roger started to stretch his limbs and back out before he got ready to run. He lowering himself to the ground in the position that runners would go into when starting a race. Hunter was holding a time watch within his right hand so that he can time Roger's speed.

"Okay Roger, you ready?" asked Hunter as he looked down at the young wolf/tiger in front of him.

"Ready," answered Roger with a smirk as he kept his eyes staring straight ahead.

"Alright," said Hunter as he brought out a whistle.

Hunter lifted the whistle up to his mouth, took a deep breath, and blew. Roger soon took off like a jet as he started running down the beach at supersonic speed. Everything was a blur around Roger as he ran down the beach towards the end before running back to Hunter and quickly stopped in front of the Golden-retriever with his arms crossed over his chest. Hunter had stopped the time watch to see how Roger's time was and smirked.

"Good work Roger, your time today is 10 minutes and 1 second." Hunter complemented with an approving nod of his head.

"Whoa…that was even faster than last time," breathed Roger in surprisement but he also had a proud look within his eyes.

"Sure was," agreed Hunter with a smile.

Just then, Roger and Hunter heard the howling of dogs before they heard Master's voice: "**Road Rovers, report to the briefing room at once.**"

"Looks like training's over for today," voiced Roger as he and Hunter ran back inside to Road Rover HQ to see what was up.

Roger and Hunter soon made it to the briefing room with some of the other's following behind them. They all gathered around the table and sat themselves down in their chosen chairs as they got ready to listen to what Master wanted to say to them.

"Road Rover's, we have a crises on our hands." Master started to explain as he looked down at the Road Rovers from where he was standing on a plat form. "It seems that Parvo is up to his old tricks again."

"Why am I not surprised?" muttered Hunter with a roll of his eyes.

"Parvo?" voiced Akane with a confused look on her face. "You mean the guy who likes to turn dogs into brainless mutants to serve under him?"

"That's the one," answered Exile with a nod of his head.

"Boy, that guy can't seem to stay out of trouble, can he?" Colt stated as he looked at Alexander who nodded his head in agreement.

"I'm afraid not Colt," said Hunter. "That's why it's our job to stop him no matter what."

"Parvo's location is in the outskirts of Austrian, the land down under." Master informed the others as he pointed to the location that was show on the screen. "He has captured the guards of that base and is holding them hostage."

"Then let's go!" exclaimed Tom in excitement.

"Tom, are you crazy?" said Roger in a serious tone. "We can't go!"

"Why not?" asked Tom with confusement.

"Some of us aren't ready yet, we're still new at this." Akane answered as she started to explain the situation to the oldest member of the team. "We're only learning the basics of our training right now, and we haven't learned how to work as a team yet."

"She's right," Simba stepped in. "We've only just started to learn how to use our powers, and I don't think it's safe for any of us to go on a mission right now."

"I second the motion," added Alexander with a nod of his head. "I suggest that we still keep to our training sessions until we learn how to control our powers better."

"I hate to agree with these guys, but…they're right," muttered Colt as he voiced his idea.

"Same here," Nanuq said as he bowed his head and crossed his arms over his chest.

"W-what?!" shouted Tom as he stood up from his seat in anger. "Don't tell me that you kids are all chicken!"

"We're not being chicken Tom," said Roger as he stared up at his brother as he stood up from his chair calmly. "All we're saying is that some of us are still too young."

"Don't you jaw at me!" shouted Tom as he pounded his right fist on the table. "I'm the leader here and you small fries have to do whatever I say!"

That really got Roger angry as he glared at Tom: "You know what? I just about had it with you and your orders! You have been nothing but a pain to this team since you've been made leader, and you never listen to when people are trying to give you advice! You only listen to adults and not us kids!"

"Why should I listen to you kids!?" questioned Tom as he glared over at his brother.

"That's enough you two!" shouted Master as he looked down at the brothers before him.

Roger and Tom instantly stopped as they looked up at Master: "I'm afraid Roger is right Tom, you young ones aren't ready for your first mission yet. You have to learn to work together before you can start any mission on your own. Until then, you all can wonder around HQ and do whatever you like; as long as you don't cause any trouble."

"Yes sir!" barked Tom and Roger as they stood ridged in front of Master like soldiers.

Hunter came up to Roger and Tom to talk to them: "Don't worry Roger; we'll be back as soon as we can. And take it easy Tom, maybe you can come along next time."

"Okay," said Roger with a smile. "But make sure you give that Parvo guy a good punch for me."

"Will do Roger," chuckled Hunter as he ruffled the young wolf/tiger's head.

"Okay team, let hit the skies!" shouted Hunter.

The Road Rover team let out a howl before running out of the briefing. Roger smiled before turning to his group.

"Okay gang; let's get back to our training, and in about an hour we'll take a brake."

"Right!" shouted Akane, Simba, Nanuq, and Alexander.

The five of them walked through the double doors to get back to their training session, but what the others didn't know was that two of their members had gone missing.

Training center

Simba was giving a few kicks and punches to a punching bag that was hanging in front of him. Akane and Alexander were doing a bit of tai-chi together as they worked on their fighting posses when they would one day fight a battle of their own. Nanuq was practicing his ice-breath on the pool to see how tick he could make it, and Roger was wondering around while looking around the gym for something or for someone. Akane noticed Roger wondering around and stopped what she was doing before she walked over to the wolf/tiger.

"What's wrong Roger?' she asked as she came up to his side.

Roger turned to look at Akane with a worried look on his face: "I was looking for Tom and Colt, and I can't seem to find them any where within Road Rover HQ."

"May be…ugh…they're in the…ugh…lounging room watching TV?" suggested Simba as he kept kicking and pounding on the punching bag.

"I've checked there," said Roger as he turned his eyes on to the African wild-dog team member.

"Have you tried looking for them on the beach?" asked Alexander as he stopped in mid-motion of his tai-chi training.

"I've looked every where for them," groaned Roger in frustration. "I can't seem to find those two any where."

"May be we should ask Master or Professor Hubert if they've seen those two around." Nanuq suggested as he walked up to Roger and Akane.

"You're probably right," Roger said with a nod of his head. "Let's go see Master first and asked him if he saw my brother or Colt around."

"Okay!" agreed Akane and the gang as they followed Roger out of the gym to the briefing room.

The metal doors slid open as the young K9 mutant team walked into the room and found Master standing on the plat form looking at the screen in front of him.

"Master!" called Roger up to the human before him. "Have you seen Tom or Colt anywhere?"

"No, I'm afraid not Roger," answered Master as he looked down at the young wolf/tiger. "But I fear that I might know where they are right now."

"What do you mean sir?" asked Akane confused.

"I just got this image on one of the security cameras within the Road Rover base. Here are the images of when the Road Rovers were leaving on their mission."

The screen before Roger and the gang lit up as it showed the image of the Road Rovers walking into one of their flyers (the Stealth Rover). At first, Roger and the gang couldn't see anything strange on the camera until Roger suddenly saw movement within the corner of the camera.

"Master, freeze the screen for a moment!" exclaimed Roger as he looked up at the human.

Master did as he was told and quickly freeze the screen.

"Now enhance that part of the screen where the crates are sitting in the corner and put up a heat sensor on where you can almost see the shadows there."

The screen quickly zoomed in close to the crates before the screen turned red. Akane, Simba, Alexander, and Nanuq gasped at what they saw. Standing behind the crates were Tom and Colt.

"What the…"started Simba as he stared wide eyed at the screen.

"How did those two get into the hanger!?" shouted Alexander in anger as he pointed at Tom and Colt who were displayed on the screen.

"Colt and Tom must have snuck away from us while our backs were turned." Roger explained as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Colt must have found out that he had the ability to make people and things disappear when he comes in contact with them. I've should have know that those two would try a trick like this."

"Ugh!" growled Nanuq in anger. "Why can't those two just listen to us for a change?"

"What are we going to do?" asked Akane as she looked at Roger with concern.

Roger bowed his head for a moment before he finally answered the team's question: "I think we should take action and go after those two before they start causing trouble for Hunter and the gang."

"But how are we suppose to get to Australia?" questioned Simba in worry. "I mean, we can't fly an air ship, much less drive a car, we're not old enough to do that yet."

Roger thought about this problem for a moment before turning his gaze on to Master again.

"Sir, could it be possible for our bracelets to transport us to Australia?"

"No, I'm afraid not," answered Master sadly.

"Dang it!" cursed Simba as he pounded his right hand.

"But," continued Master, "You're collars can transport you."

"Really?!" said Roger hopefully as he looked up at his human master.

Master nodded his head with a smile on his face.

"Alright!" cheered Nanuq as he pumped his left fist into the air.

"Okay team, gather together!" ordered Roger as he looked at his team mates. "This will be our first mission. Bring back Colt and Tom unscratched, but do not interfere with the Rover's mission. Understand?"

"Yes sir!" shouted Roger's group as they stood to attention in front of him.

"Alright gang, let do this!"

Roger soon touched the golden pendent that hung on the edge of his collar with the others following suit.

"Transport sequence activate, destination: Australia!"

Once Roger said these words, his body started to glow within a white light and he disappeared from the room along with the others of his group. Master watched this from the balcony as a smile spread out across his face.

"It seems that Tom might have some competition in the leadership," he voiced with a chuckle.

Australian out back

Everything was quiet as the wind blew across the land that was barren until a bright light suddenly started to occur as five bodies appeared from out of light. Roger's form was the first one to appear with the others appearing beside him.

"Here we are gang, the Australian out back." Roger announced as he looked around at his surroundings.

"What a strange place," Nanuq as he looked at the land before him. "I've never seen anything like it."

"This place gives me a nostalgic feeling," voiced Simba.

"Where could we be?" asked Akane as she looked around her surroundings.

"Probably in the out back of Australia," answered Roger as he looked at his female member.

"Do you think that we're close to the Parvo's base?" asked Alexander as he looked at his team mates.

"If that doesn't look like a base than I don't know what is," spoke Nanuq as he pointed to something on the horizon.

Roger and the others turned to see what Nanuq was pointing at. They saw a huge building within the distance. The building looked as if it were made out of shadows instead of metal for the sun's rays of light never seemed to touch the building.

"Good spotting Nanuq," commented Roger before turning to look at Akane.

"Akane, what can you see with your eagle eyes?" asked the wolf/tiger.

The Hovawart's eyes stared at the base for a moment as they started glowing yellow. Akane's vision increased and doubled in size as they focused in on the base. She saw many soldiers, which were mutant dogs, roaming around the base with guns in hand.

"I see a lot of K9-mutant soldiers, 30 at least." Akane reported as she kept staring at the base. "They have machine guns within their hands and are moving around clockwise every single hour within the day."

"Getting in there won't be easy," indicated Simba as he rubbed the underside if his muzzle. "And they'll probably spot us coming if we just waltz right in there."

"That's where you're wrong my friend." Roger corrected with a smirk. "We aren't going to waltz in there, we're going to run."

"What!?" gasped Alexander in surprise.

"But that's dangerous!" Akane pointed out. "And we also can't just run head first into danger; those guys will shoot us on the spot!"

"Not if they can't see us," chuckled Roger with a wink. "Unless you guys have forgotten, I have super speed. I can get you guys as close to the door as possible then we'll not have to worry about the guards catching sight of us."

"You sure it will work?" asked Simba unsurely.

"Just trust me, okay?" said Roger before he grabbed both Simba and Nanuq by the wrists. "I'll be back for you and Akane later Alex."

With that said and done with, Roger took off like lighting across the land while dragging Simba and Nanuq with him.

"How long would later be?" asked Alexander as he looked at Akane with a confused look on his face.

"Well…" started Akane before she was suddenly interrupted when Roger appeared before them in a flash.

"Missed me?" he joked with a smirk.

Akane looked at Alexander with a smile: "About a sec."

"Whoa," gasped Alexander in amazement before Roger grabbed hold of both him and Akane by the wrist.

"Hang on to your hats!" warned Roger before he took off towards the base again.

Base gates

Nanuq and Simba were hiding behind some underbrush's that were luckily close to the base. Simba soon heard Roger returning and turned to see Roger with Akane and Alexander by his side.

"Welcome back," greeted Simba quietly as Roger and the two team members walked up to him.

Nanuq parted some of the bushes so as to get a better look on the situation: "I see two guards standing in front of the entrance."

"And well armed guards by the looks of it," pointed out Alexander.

"How are we going to get in?" asked Simba as he looked at Roger.

"Let me think," answered Roger as he bowed his head in thought.

It was a few minutes before Roger told his plan to the group: "First off we should see if the Road Rovers had gone through those gates. Nanuq, can you pick up their sent."

"Leave it to me," barked Nanuq as he lightly pounded his right fist against his chest.

The malamute leaned down on the ground in front of him and started to sniff to see if he can find the sent of the Road Rovers. It took about a minute before Nanuq lifted his head up from the ground to look at the group.

"I just picked up the Road Rover's trail," He reported to the group. "The Road Rover had been here, but they went a different direction. I've also picked up on Tom's and Colt's trail as well, and it seems like they went right past the guards while using Colt's invisibility power."

"That's just great," said Simba sarcastically as he rolled his eyes up to the sky. "The Road Rover's went one direction so that they can get in without being caught while Tom and Colt went walking right into the base without even being noticed."

"Okay, calm down," Roger said as he looked at the Wild-dog. "I think I know what to do."

"What are you going to do?" asked Akane.

"Okay, gather round and pay attention," Roger commanded as everyone gathered around him and started listening to his plane.

A few minutes later

The guards were standing in front of the door of the entrance with their weapons in hand. Everything was peaceful until they were suddenly taken by surprise when Roger suddenly appeared before them in a blur.

"Hello there," He said with a smirk. "I was wondering if you guys know where you can find a beauty salon, because you look like you could need one because that ugly look is really not good for you. I mean, no female would ever want to be with you two creeps."

That got the guards steamed and they started shooting at Roger, but the young wolf/tiger easily dodged their bullets then blowing a raspberry at them before running off again with the guards following after him. Akane and the other popped out of the bushes once they saw their chance and quickly ran threw the gate. Roger quickly followed after them after he had lost the guards within the underbrush of the Australian bush.

The Road Rover Team

Hunter and his gang had gotten into Parvo's base through a secret door that they had found by the side wall of the base. They were now sneaking through the hall while making sure that they didn't get spotted by Parvo's guards.

"We should almost be at the control room by now," whispered Hunter to his group.

"I hope so, because I want to get out of here as soon a possible," complained Blitz.

"Don't tell me you're scared comrade?" said Exile as he looked at the Doberman in question.

"No, it is because I'm missing my soap-opera."

"Oh!" said the team in understanding.

Just then, the gang heard footsteps ahead of them and quickly hid behind the corner.

"Sounds like some of Parvo's guards are coming this way." Colleen whispered before she held up a dog disk as she got ready to throw it at the enemy.

"Hold your positions everybody," Hunter ordered as he and the gang stood their ground.

The footsteps started growing closer and closer to them as the Road Rover team got ready to jump them. The footsteps soon grew softer as they slowed down to a walk. It was an agonizing minute for the Road Rover team until they saw the shadows of the guards on the wall; that was when Hunter made his move and jumped out of his hiding spot. But what he saw in front of him was what took him by surprise.

"Roger!?" he gasped in surprise when he saw the wolf/tiger and the four other young Rovers standing in front of him.

"Hunter!" shouted Roger in surprise as well with a shocked look on his face.

"Huh!?" chorused both the groups when they saw each other.

"Vhat in the world are you kids doing here?" questioned Blitz as he glared at the younger rovers.

"We can totally explain," started Roger. "We're here on a mission of our own, but it isn't to interfere with your mission."

"Then what is your mission Comrade?" asked Exile.

"Tom and Colt had snuck on to your ship when Colt was using his powers to cloak them selves from you guys." Simba blurted out as he answered the question for the team.

"What!?" shouted the Road Rovers in sock as they looked at Simba with wide eyes.

"It's true," insisted Akane. "We saw them on the security tape at HQ."

"But how could you see them if they were invisible?" questioned Blitz in suspicion.

"It was all thanks to Roger on that one," Alexander answered as he pointed at Roger. "He was the one who suddenly notice movement in the corner within the shadows of the crates."

"He also asked Master to enhance the image and put an inferred sensor to show us where they were." Nanuq added for the group.

Hunter and the others looked at Roger in surprise.

"You did that?" asked Hunter in curiosity.

"It's was nothing much," Roger chuckled in embarrassment as his tail wagged back and forth as he rubbed the back of his head. "I just did what I did on impulse. Oh…but we shouldn't be lacking here any longer. If we do then Parvo's men might find us."

"Your right," agreed Hunter before looking at his team. "Listen gang, Roger and his team will be coming with us on this mission. But we're also making a new mission here, we have to find Tom and Colt within this base before Parvo's men does."

"That might be a problem," spoke Simba. "Parvo's men won't know where they are because Colt and Tom might still be invisible."

"And it will be a lot harder for us to find them," groaned Alexander as he slapped his forehead in anguish.

"Maybe not," pointed out Roger. "Let's about this, what would Colt or Tom wanna do within this base if they are going on their first mission?"

"That depends for we haven't really known each other for that long," said Akane as she placed a finger on the side of her cheek in thought.

"Well if I know my brother, he would be going to fight the main guy that's the source of this whole calamity. But he would first take out the machinery within the computer room."

"If that's so then Tom and Colt will be going to the control room." Alexander pointed out.

"Alright," Hunter finally said. "Exile; you, Blitz, Shag, Simba, and Nanuq go to the control room. Roger, you, Akane, Colleen, and Alexander come with me to save some of the people that were captured by Parvo."

"You got it Hunter," said Roger as he gave the leader of the Road Rovers the thumbs up.

Hunter nodded before turning to the group: "Okay rovers, move out!"

"Right!" barked the Road Rover teams before splitting up and going in different directions.

Hunter's team

Roger, Hunter, and the gang were running down a long hall before Hunter motioned for them to stop as they came to an open door. The golden leader made a motion with his finger for all of them to be quite and they all nodded their heads in understanding. Slowly, Hunter and Roger moved towards the open door as they slowly poked their heads around the corner to see four or five K9 mutants standing guard around several men. Some of the men were out cold while others were sitting on the floor while glaring up at Parvo's soldiers.

"This seems too easy." Roger whispered to Hunter.

"You're right about that," answered Hunter back. "So what do you suggest we do?"

"Hmm" hummed Roger in thought. "If we go in there head first then we might be surrounded by other soldiers."

"Can I take a look?" asked Akane.

Roger nodded at Akane and slowly crept back away from the door as the head of Akane popped around the side. Akane's eyes glowed red as she looked into the room. Her eye's caught a lot of movement in some of the darkest parts in the room with many shadows close around the circle of other guards. Akane's eyes changed back into their normal color before turning to the group.

"I see a lot more guards in that room," she reported.

"Then we'll have to watch our step," warned Roger as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Any ideas?" asked Simba.

Roger thought for a moment before coming up with an idea: "I think I might know a way, but it's risky."

"What is it?" asked Alexander.

"Okay gang, gather around and listen up," instructed Roger as he motioned for everyone to gather around him. "We could throw a flash grenade into the hanger so that the guards can get blinded, but we also have to give the hostages a signal so that they won't get blinded by the flash grenade. That's where I come in. I can give one of the hostages a communicator that can help him know when he and the others have to close their eyes, and wait until the time is right."

"It's risky." Hunter pointed out.

"I know," answered Roger as he looked at the Road Rover leader. "But timing is everything. I want you guys to create a distraction while I run in there so that I can give one of the hostages the communicator. You guys think you can do that?"

"You bet," answered Alexander.

"Okay," nodded Roger as he got ready to do his part.

Hunter handed Roger the communicator before he and the others got their weapons ready. Roger got into his sprint position and was about to dash in when he was suddenly pulled back by an invisible force.

"Hey!" exclaimed Roger as he was suddenly pulled back.

A hand suddenly went over his mouth to shush him: "Be quiet you idiot!"

Roger soon pulled out of the grip of and turned to see Colt standing behind him.

"Colt!" hissed Roger in a low voice. "Where have you've been!?"

"Just wondering around the base," answered Colt simply.

"Well you're in big trouble once we get home mister!" scolded Colleen as she waved a finger at the young golden retriever.

"What are you, my mom?" questioned Colt with a frown.

"Okay, that's enough!" Roger stepped in before a fight started. "Colt, where's Tom. Wasn't he with you?"

"We got separated from each other when we finished locking down the security system of the base." Colt answered. "Some goons suddenly came running at us once we came out of the security room and started chasing us. Tom and I had to split up. I managed to loose the goons that were chasing me after I turned myself invisible."

"I hope Tom got away from the other guards," said Akane "Even if he's such an annoying pig."

"We can find him later." Roger announced. "Right now we have to save those hostages."

"And you need me to do it." Colt stepped in. "I can get in there without being noticed by anyone."

"Alright," agreed Roger with a nod of his head. "Here's what you have to do. Get a communicator to one of the hostages and come right back while making sure you don't do any fancy stuff."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," grumbled Colt with a yawn.

Roger handed the Golden retriever the communication device. Colt nodded his head before turning invisible. Colt walked into the room without making a sound as he headed towards one of the hostages. The hostage, who was a man, was sitting quietly with the rest of his men until he suddenly felt something being dropped into his lap. The man looked down and saw a black device sitting in his lap before hearing a voice in his ear.

"The Road Rovers are waiting outside the door to give you guys the signal. They're going to throw a flash grenade so be prepared to cover your eyes and tell your men to run when they get the chance."

The man nodded as he quickly grasped the device and waited for the signal. Colt quickly ran back to the others and turned visible again after he came around the corner to hide with the others.

"Good work Colt," congratulated Roger.

"I'm always the best at sneaking into building," boasted Colt with a smirk.

Roger rolled his eyes before getting ready on Hunter's signal. Hunter slowly reached into his pouch and pulled out a flash grenade before giving the gang a quick nod. Roger nodded before lifting the extra communication device that Hunter had given him, and spoke into it.

"Okay, close your eyes…NOW!"

Hunter quickly pulled the pin and threw the grenade into the room. Roger and the gang quickly turned away as a bright flash of light suddenly engulfed the room. The gang heard a chorus of howls from the guards in side the room. The light died down before Roger talked into the communicator again.

"Alright, you and the others get out of there now while you still have the chance."

"You got it!" answered the man on the other side.

In a few minutes, the man and the others captives came through the door and met up with the Road Rovers. Some of the men that were unconscious had to be carried by the other hostages. One of the men turned to Hunter and shook the leader's hand.

"Thank you so much for helping us." He said with a smile.

"You're welcome," said Hunter with a smile before turning to see his two younger team mates. "But the ones you should really thank are Colt and Roger."

At the mention of their names Roger blinked with confusement and Colt only puffed out his chest in pride. The man walked over to them and shook their hands.

"Thank you, you two." He said with a smile. "You've really saved our skins back there."

"You're welcome," Roger said as he lightly shook the man's hand. "But we better get out of here before those guards regain their eye sight again."

"You're right about that mate," agreed the man with a nod of his head.

"Come on gang, let get out of here." Hunter said as he started to lead the group before Roger walked up to him.

"Hunter, I like to have permission on looking for my brother." Roger announced as he stood to attention in front of the leader.

"Okay, but just make sure you don't go after Parvo." Hunter warned as he looked down at the young wolf/tiger.

"Got it," saluted Roger before going over to his group.

"Alexander, Akane; I want you two to go with Hunter and Colleen to help out with getting the hostages out of this place." Roger commanded as he looked at his two team mates.

"You got it!" exclaimed Alexander as he showed Roger a thumb's up.

"Colt, you'll be coming with me." Roger said as he turned to the golden retriever. "I need someone with stealth to get me through the base."

"Sure, whatever," Colt dully said. "Just don't expect me to save your tail if you get into trouble."

Roger shrugged his shoulders before turning to Hunter again: "Hunter, you and the others be careful when exiting the base."

"You too Roger," indicated Hunter before turning to the group. "Okay gang, let move out!"

"Yes sir!"

Roger and Colt took off down the hall running as they tried to find the dog that might be in danger.

Road Rover: second team

The squeaking of door hinges was heard as the door to the security room was opened by Simba. The gang slowly walked into the pitch black room where they saw that some of the machinery had been damaged with many dents in their systems. There were also a lot of large holes within the computer screens.

"Yep, looks like Tom has been in here alright." Nanuq announced as he walked over to one of the computers.

"And It looks like we were too late," added Simba with his ears dropping down on his head.

"Reah (yeah)," answered Shag with a nod of his head.

"That stupid dog!" blasted Nanuq as he slammed both of his fists down on the control panels of the computer. "Why does he always have to be so stubborn?"

"I am thinking that comrade Tom has a few birds loose within that inflated big head of his." Exile praised as he spun his finger around his head.

"You mean 'A few screws loose within the head'." Simba corrected as he looked at the Russian husky.

"Is what I say," said Exile with a shrug of his shoulders.

Simba rolled his eyes up with an amused smile on his face. Nanuq smiled at the two before starting to put his nose into action so that he can find the scent of Tom or Colt any where. Blitz walked up to the Malamute to see what was going on.

"What are you doing frosty?" asked Blitz.

"I'm looking for Tom's or Colt's scent," answered Nanuq simply. "If I do that then we'll be able to find them no problem."

"Then get sniffing and find them," urged Blitz.

"I know, because you're missing you're soap-opera." Nanuq chuckled with a smile.

Nanuq quickly got to work as he started sniffing around for the young golden retriever and older Beauceron's scent until his nose picked up something strong to his right. The malamute walked over to one of the control panels that was dented and saw a piece of fur stuck on the sharp end of the cracked metal.

"What have we here," hummed Nanuq as he grabbed the tuff of fur between his fingers and lifted it up to his nose.

"What did you find Nanuq?" asked Simba as he walked over to the Malamute.

"I thought so," said Nanuq as he turned to look at the others. "This tuff of fur that I've found belongs to Tom alright, and by the scent of it he's really becoming aggressive."

"Aggressive?" repeated Simba in a confused tone.

"What do you mean comrade?" asked Exile.

"Tom is starting to become more violent within his punching and he's also becoming reckless." Nanuq explained as he looked at his team member. "As you can see from the dents and broken computer screens he is starting to think more about his brut strength instead of his head. I should have known about this from the beginning."

"You mean you've senses this coming?" questioned Blitz in shock.

"Yes," answered Nanuq with a nod. "You see I've been watching Tom's training methods for a while now as he kept punching at the punching bags, and lifting a tone of weights just so that he can get stronger. I've also saw him punching the metal walls of the training room as well. I'm thinking that his transformation to a K9 mutant must have triggered something within his system."

"If that's true then we've got to find him before he starts going berserk on this whole base." Simba stated with a worried look on his face.

"Or even worse," began Nanuq. "He might go after Parvo!"

"Then Parvo is going to be in serious trouble!" exclaimed Exile.

Shag yelped with Blitz gulping down the saliva that had gathered up within his throat. This is getting hard and harder for the team as they found out that Tom's attitude is becoming more violent like a wild animal.

Roger and Colt

Roger and Colt were running down the hall as they searched for Roger's older brother. The two quickly stopped as they pressed themselves up against the wall of the hall while they watched two guards walk past them.

"Finding Tom in this place is not going to be easy," stated Colt quietly to Roger.

"I know," agreed Roger. "That why we've got to be extra careful when it comes to running down these halls."

Just then, Roger started to sense something coming down the hall where the guards had just walked down.

"Get back!" he hissed as he pushed Colt back with his left arm.

"What in the world has gotten into you?" growled Colt in anger as he glared at the wolf/tiger.

Roger only responded by placing his right finger to his mouth in a motion to be quiet and turned his head to the hall again. A shadow appeared on the wall and after a tense moment the body of Tom appeared before them. Colt was about to shout out Tom's name, but Roger shushed him again with a quick glance.

"Keep quiet" hushed Roger. "That's not Tom."

"Huh?" said Colt confused before looking over at Tom.

The Tom that appeared before Roger and Colt was covered in a dark aura with his K9's poking out from his top lips and his eyes were the color of blood. Colt gasped at what he saw.

"This…can't be," he whispered as Tom walked past them without a second glance.

"Colt you know something about this?" asked Roger as he looked at Colt seriously.

"Yeah," replied Colt with a nod. "You see, it all started when we went to the security control room. I was just starting to crack the code on the security cameras when Tom pushed me out of the way. He told me that he doesn't have the time to waste with waiting and decided to smash the controls himself before going off to defeat Parvo. That was when he started acting strange. Tom started pounding on the machinery like mad and it looked like he was possessed or something."

"This is bad," growled Roger before pressing his communication collar. "Hunter, can you read me? Come in!"

"_This is Hunter, what's wrong Roger?_" asked the voice over the communicator.

"We've got a problem," announced Roger. "Colt and I found Tom, but he's acting like a whole different person now!"

"_What do you mean?_" asked Hunter.

"_I think I can explain that,_" another voice came over the communicator.

"Nanuq!" exclaimed Roger.

"_The group and I went to the security room and what we found there was a complete mess._" Nanuq started to explain. "_The control panels were smashed into tiny bits and the screens were broken upon repair. This is just the first stage of what is to come of his powers and he going to test out more of his strength on the boss that's running this system._"

"_Parvo!_" exclaimed Hunter in shock before talking onto his communication. "_This is very serious Rovers; we have to stop Tom cold in his tracks before he causes something that he might regret later on._"

"With Tom as he is, I don't think he'll remember anything." Roger pointed out, "I don't even think that he'll even remember me even if I tried to make him."

"_We've got no choice in this matter Roger,_" spoke Hunter again. "_I need you and Colt to follow after your brother, but not too closely. We don't know how he'll react when you come face-to-face with him._"

"Got it," answered Roger. "We'll make sure to keep a close eye on Tom until you guys meet up with us. Nanuq, I want you and the others to meet Hunter and his group outside the base at a safe distance."

"_You got it Roger,_" replied Nanuq and Simba together.

"_Be careful Roger,_" Akane's voice came over the communication radio.

"You too Akane," answered Roger to Akane, "Over and out."

"Got any ideas of following your brother?"

"I do actually," answered Roger as he looked at Colt beside him. "If you can turn both of us invisible then we'll be able to follow him without getting caught by Parvo's men."

"Okay," agreed Colt with a nod before giving Roger his hand. "But I can only make you invisible if we're touching each other."

"I know," said Roger before placing his hand in Colt's hand.

Upon contact the two of them soon disappeared without a trace.

Main room of the Base

The sound of teeth biting against metal was heard throughout the room as a young female dingo bit down on the bars that trapped her within the cage as a man and woman stood in front of her.

The man smirked at the dingo that was in the cage: "She's perfect Groomer. This creature will make a great K9 mutant once we put her through the machine."

"Aye, that she will General." Groomer agreed with the same smirk on her face.

The dingo snarled fiercely at them in anger. They weren't going to get away with this that she vowed.

"Get the machine ready Groomer," ordered General Parvo as he turned to assistant.

"With pleasure sir," saluted Groomer before going over to the control panel.

Parvo leaned down to look through the cage bars to look at the dingo: "Very soon my dear, you'll be working for me."

The dingo glared at Parvo with rage as Groomer as finishing up the final touches. Just as she was about to finish the door to the room was suddenly bashed open. Parvo and the Groomer quickly turned to see what the ruckus was about and what they saw made their blood turn to ice for standing within the doorway was Tom. The two villains knew that Tom was part of the Road Rovers by the suite he was wearing. Tom spotted Parvo and smirked.

"So…you're the criminal that Hunter and the others keep talking about?" questioned Tom in a dark voice.

"And who are you may I ask?" demanded Parvo in anger.

"Your worse nightmare," replied Tom before he shot towards Parvo.

Before Parvo could react, Tom quickly slammed his fist into the face of Parvo and sent the villain flying into the control panels of the computer system. The dingo quickly backed away from what was happening for she had never seen this type of creature before in her life. Roger and Colt had just arrived as he turned visible again and saw Tom pounding Parvo to a pulp.

"This is worse than I expected," said Roger in worry before noticing the dingo.

Roger quickly ran over to the cage as he tried to break the lock. The dingo jumped back and started to growl at Roger. Roger saw this as looked up at the dingo.

"Shhh…its okay girl," whispered Roger gently as he tried to calm the dingo down. "I'm with a group called the Road Rovers, and they're the good guys."

The dingo slowly calmed down after she heard what Roger told her. Roger smiled at her before going back to the lock again and gave a great sigh when he saw that the lock was an advanced lock that needed the code to open its big iron mouth. The wolf/tiger quickly turned his eyes back to Colt.

"Colt, I need your help here!" shouted Roger over the commotion.

The golden retriever quickly ran towards Roger to see what the problem was and saw what it was.

"Puff…This is nothing," boasted Colt as he smirked at Roger before he started cracking the code on the lock.

Roger looked over to see his brother holding Parvo by the neck with Groomer lying unconscious near the control panel. Roger's eyes widened in shock at what he saw in front of him and his right hand started turning into a fist as he began to feel his anger rise up within his chest. This creature that stood in front of him was not his brother for his brother would never act this way, and that was when he shouted out in anger.

"TOM, STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!"

When he heard his name being called the older Beauceron stopped in his tracks and turned his blood red eyes on Roger. The young wolf/tiger stood his ground as he glared at his brother with his golden/yellow eyes. The Beauceron dropped Parvo down on to the ground as he started stocking towards Roger.

Colt managed to crack the code of the lock and the door to the cage opened with the dingo walking out of it cautiously before turning her eyes on Roger and barked in fright. Colt quickly turned to see what she was looking at and he went wide eyed when he saw that Roger was in trouble. Roger stood his ground as Tom walked towards him with slow steps until the Beauceron finally stood in front of the wolf/tiger.

"What did you just say to me?" said Tom in a deep voice.

"I said 'stop it'." Roger repeated as he glared into his brother's red eyes.

Tom started to become enraged when he heard what his brother had said to him. Tom scrunched his right hand into a fist and raised it to give his brother a roundhouse punch, but before he could Colt quickly intervened by grabbing the Beauceron around the neck. Tom started to thrash around as he tried to loosen the golden retrievers grip from around his neck while roaring like a wild lion.

"Colt!" shouted Roger to his Road Rover teammate.

Colt kept his grip on Tom's neck, but he couldn't hold on for much longer as Tom finally grabbed Colt and threw him down to the ground, hard. Colt yelped as he was slammed down on to the metal ground by Tom and he could have sworn that he heard one of his rips crack from within his ribcage.

"How _dare_ you touch me!" shouted Tom as he glared down at the golden retriever and raised his fist to slam it down on Colt's body.

"NO!" shouted Roger and with the help of his speed, he quickly shot forwards and slammed his body against his brother.

The force of the tackle made Roger slam his brother against a nearby wall and knocked him unconscious. The force of that tackle also made Tom's collar come off from around his neck and fall on to the ground with a small *ping* that echoed through the room. Colt slowly sat up with some difficulty with the female dingo coming up beside him as they stared as they waited for Tom to rise up and finish off his brother, but that never happened as Roger stood up from his brother's body. Tom's body lay motionless with the dark aura dispersing from his body and his teeth going back to their normal selves as well. Roger looked down at his brother with sadness and disappointment written on his face as he stared at his brother's body. Roger was so focused on looking at his brother that he didn't sense one of Parvo's guards walking into the room and raising his gun to shoot at the young wolf/tiger in the back. Colt saw the guard and quickly shouted out at Roger.

"Roger, look out!"

Roger quickly turned around just as he saw the guard fire his gun at him. Roger was frozen to the spot as he watched the bullet of the gun flying towards him, but the bullet was quickly intercepted when the female dingo suddenly jumped in front of Roger. Roger's eyes widened when he saw the dingo take the shot for him. The bullet tore through the fur as it logged itself into the dingo's stomach, and the female let out a howl of pain as she fell down to the ground in pain. Roger quickly went to the dingo's side with a worried look on his face. The guard was about to shoot at Roger again, but was suddenly knocked out cold and fell to the ground with a thud. Roger looked up and saw the people that he thought that he would never see again.

"Hunter! Colleen! Exile!" he shouted when he saw the three Road Rovers standing in front of him.

"Are you alright Roger?" asked Hunter as he ran up to the young wolf/tiger.

"Yes I'm fine, but I'm not so sure about her." Roger answered before looking down at the dingo that was lying on the ground with a flow of blood coming out from the wound of her stomach. "Not to mention that Colt is injured too."

"Don't worry about me," spoke Colt as he slowly got up from the ground. "This injury is nothing…"

But his words were cut off when he suddenly felt pain emanating from his ribcage and nearly fell to the ground in pain if Colleen hadn't caught him in time. Exile went over to Tom and quickly picked him up as he slung the Beauceron over his shoulders. Hunter picked up the dingo in his arms with Roger standing up beside him.

"Okay gang, let's get…" but the leader never finished his words for the group started to suddenly feel a tremor underneath their feet.

"What's going on!" shouted Roger over the noise.

"Hey, where did that Parvo-snake go?" questioned Colt when he noticed that Parvo and Groomer weren't in the room anymore.

"They've must have snuck away!" answered Roger as he looked over at Colleen and Colt.

"And now that he's gotten away he set this base on to self-destruct," Colleen stepped in as she let Colt lean up against her.

"Yet another unexpected twist," said Hunter as he looked at Roger.

"I might have a way for us to get out of here," Roger voiced as he quickly pressed his collar's tag. "This is Roger calling HQ, are you there Master?"

"_This is Master, what is it Roger?_"

"Hunter, Colleen, Exile, Colt, and I are in a bit of a tight pinch. I need to know if my collar can transport others a long as they are touching me."

"_Yes it can, but it can only transport two or three people._"

"No fear there. Exile, Tom's collar has fallen off his neck so it should be around somewhere. Look for it, quick!"

"You got it comrade," saluted Exile and started to look around for Tom's collar.

Roger started talking to Akane and told her that He and the gang were going to transport to Road Rover HQ and they have to use the stealth rover to get home; Exile finally found Tom's collar and nodded at Roger.

"Okay, Colt, you and Colleen are pared up together. Hunter, you and the dingo are with me, and Exile you take Tom." Roger ordered as he organized the group. "Now, on the count of three, press the dog tags."

"Right!" replied Colt and Exile with a nod of their heads.

Roger started counting with Hunter holding on to the dingo while he placed his hand on the young wolf/tiger's shoulder. When three came, Roger, Exile, and Colt quickly pressed their collar's tags and in a flash, they were gone. The base started crumbling down as Akane, Nanuq, Simba, Alexander and all the others watched from a safe distance away. Parvo and the Groomer had gotten away for now, but at least they were all okay.

To be continued


	8. The truth, the leader, and the new

Living a Different life

The truth, the leader, and the new member

Roger was sitting on the outside steps of Road Rover HQ. Everyone had made it back safe and sound from their mission in Australia, but not without a few injuries. Colt had two ribs broken after Tom's wild side slammed him into the metal floor of Parvo's base; Tom had received a concussion to the back of his head after Roger had tackled into him; and the female dingo that saved Roger's life by taking the bullet for him. Roger had been really upset after the sudden turn of events and had become silent after he, his group, and the older Road Rovers came back.

Roger was watching the waves of the ocean crash down on the sandy shore of the beach before turning his gaze down at what he was holding within his right hand. In the palm of his hand was his brother's collar that had fallen off his neck. Exile had given Roger the collar after they had transported themselves back to Road Rover HQ.

"I should probably give this back to Tom once he's better," mumbled Roger with a far off look within his eyes.

"Roger?" spoke a voice from behind the tiger/wolf.

Roger turned his head around to look over his shoulders and saw Hunter standing behind him.

"Hey Hunter," greeted Roger quietly. "How are Colt and Tom doing?"

"They're doing just fine," answered Hunter as he walked up to Roger's side. "Mind if I sit down with you?"

"Not at all," replied Roger with a small smile on his muzzle.

Hunter sat down on the first step with Roger and looked out at the water with him. Everything was quiet as Roger and Hunter sat together for a moment until Roger started to talk again.

"How's the female dingo doing?" he asked.

"She's doing fine," replied Hunter. "We were lucky to have brought her back here before her injury had gotten worse."

"Yeah, no thanks to me," mumbled Roger quietly.

"What do you mean by that Roger?"

"I mean that it is my fault Hunter! If I had been paying more attention to my surroundings and my senses, then none of this would have happened in the first place!"

As Roger said those words his right hands figures started closing around his brother's collar as they tightened into a fist in anger. Hunter knew just how much this was hurting Roger for it had been the young wolf/tiger's very first mission, and it had been hard for him to keep his cool in front of the group when he arrived back home with the older Rover's. Hunter draped his arm over Roger's shoulders to comfort his young friend. Roger relaxed as tears started streaming down his face. They were not tears of a child crying, but adult tears which he had held back within himself for a while know. Hunter rubbed Roger's left shoulder as he tried to calm him down.

"I know its hard Roger, and I know that it isn't going to be easy for you either." Hunter said quietly to Roger. "But I promise you that everything is going to be okay."

"I hope so," mumbled Roger.

"Roger, Hunter!"

At the call of their names the two turned their heads around to see Simba running towards them before skidding to a stop in front of them.

"Simba, what's wrong?" asked Hunter as he stood up from the steps to look at the young African wild-dog in front of him.

Simba was panting as he was trying to catch his breath before answering: "It's Tom…Professor Hubert and Colleen were inspecting him to see what was wrong with him…They found something that we should all look at."

Roger stood up from the stairs before sharing a look of question with him. What could be so important that they should see?

The Lab

Hunter's group and Roger's group were gathered around the computer with the blood-hound (Professor Hubert) sitting in front of it. The metal doors to the lab slid open with Roger, Hunter, and Simba walking through them as they came up to the group.

"What's going on here?" asked Hunter.

"I have some troubling news Hunter," replied Professor Hubert with a sigh as he turned his chair to face Hunter, Roger, and Simba. "I had just taken a sample of Tom's blood, and I found out that Tom's DNA is mixing with his dog DNA. The result of that is this; these two components are clashing against each other."

"Wait a minute," halted Roger. "Are you saying that Tom's DNA is battling against his K9 DNA?"

"In a way, yes," answered Professor Hubert as he stood up from his chair with a nod of his head. "For you see, when Professor William placed the DNA of dog and other animals into your blood stream it caused a major reaction to make your DNA to clash with the blood that was injected into your body."

"If so, then why hasn't it affected us like it did with Tom?" asked Alexander.

"There's a very good explanation for that question," replied Professor Hubert. "For you see, your human DNA only clashes with the DNA of you K9 cells when you are in your human forms for too long; and when you go into your Cano-sabian forms, your human DNA transforms/changes into the same DNA of your K9 blood."

"But that still doesn't explain why we didn't change into monsters like Tom did," Nanuq pointed out with a frown crossing his face.

"The bracelets!" gasped Roger with wide eyes. "They must have something to do with this."

"I'm afraid that they do Roger," spoke a voice from behind the group.

The Road Rover teams turned to see the doors open to revile the Master as he walked into the room.

"Master, are you saying that the bracelets that you had given us were morn than what you said they were?" asked Akane curiously.

"Yes," answered Master with a sad nod. "I was hoping to tell all of you young children of this when you were all a little older, but I see now that keeping this a secret to you only endangers your lives even more. William has been a college and assistant of mine when I was working on the transformation chambers that would change normal dogs into Cano-Sabians. What I didn't know was that William had started experimenting on people in secrecy without my knowing and infused them with K9 DNA. Some of his experiments had died through the transformation process; but there were some that had survived the process and had winded up like tom had been when you all went on the mission to Australia."

"But what dose that got to do with all of this?" asked Nanuq.

"That question is also a simple one to answer young Nanuq; I've studied the DNA of both human and dog clashing with each other, and I found out that the dog DNA can be harmonized with human DNA through sound waves that were at a high frequency."

"A high frequency that only dogs can hear!" exclaimed Alexander as he finished Master's explanation.

"So the bracelets create a vibration throughout out bodies that only our dog DNA can hear or feel and then, they start to relax and harmonize with our human DNA." Akane said as she figured out the pieces to the story.

"That is correct Akane," said Master with a smile.

"Well now, you're more than just pretty looks aren't you lov'," said Colleen as she ruffled Akane's hair.

"But what about Tom?" asked Simba in concern, "If what Master said was true, then why did he change into that monster?"

"I think I know the answer to that question," spoke Roger as he looked down at Tom's collar with a glare. "Tom's been neglecting to wear his bracelet."

"What?!" shouted the Road Rover gang in shock and disbelief.

"It's true," spoke Roger again. "I've been watching my brother for a while now and I always saw him taking his bracelet off for a full hour as he was doing his weight lifting. He also takes it off when he was up to bat within his baseball game so that he could hit a home run."

"Tom that idiot," groaned Akane as she shook her head in disappointment.

"Even when adults tell him not to do something he still does it," grumbled Simba as his ears dropped down to both sides of his head.

The two Road Rover groups nodded their heads in agreement before Roger asked the most important question that came knocking into his head.

"Is my brother going to be back to normal when he wakes up?" he asked the Master.

"Yes Roger, he will." Master answered with a nod of his head. "He's already been changed back into his human form with his bracelet attached back on to his arm again."

"But what if he tries to take it off again?" asked Alexander in worry.

"We have taken care of that problem," answered Professor Hubert. "You see, the Master and I redesigned Tom's bracelet to stay attached to his wrist, and no matter how hard the boy will try to get it off him it will stay connected to him."

"That's a…little extreme," remarked Simba with a lopsided grin.

"Sounds perfect for him if you ask me," said Blitz to Exile as the husky nodded his head in agreement.

"We'll also be designing his chamber as well." Professor Hubert added. "So, when Tom is called for training he will simply step into his own chamber to change into his K9 form, and once he enters the chamber the wristband will instantly unlock from the boy's wrist. The wristband will then be stored in a secret compartment within the machine so that it won't get lost somewhere in Road Rover home base."

"How long will it take for you to redesign Tom's chamber?" asked Akane.

"About a few weeks," replied Professor Hubert.

"That's good," spoke Nanuq in relief.

"I also think that we should tell Colt and Tom about this as well." Roger pointed out to the group. "They do have the right to know after all."

"You're right," added Alexander. "Despite him being a pain in the butt; he is our leader."

Simba, Nanuq and Akane all nodded their head in agreement to what has to be done.

"Do you want one of us to come with you Roger?" asked Hunter to the wolf/tiger.

"No thanks Hunter," declined Roger kindly. "This is something that we new trainees of the Road Rovers have to do."

After that was said, Roger and his group left the room and the older Road Rovers behind. Hunter let out a light hum as a smile spread out across his face.

"What's wrong 'Untie?" asked Colleen out of curiosity.

"Nothing," answered Hunter, "It just that…well, don't you think that kid, Roger, be a good leader?"

"Now that you mentioned it, yes," answered Colleen with a nod of her head.

The recovery room

Everything was quiet within the recovery room as three figures lay in the recovery beds as they were covered in bandages that were wrapped around different parts of their bodies. Colt was the first one to open his eyes first before the two. His vision was blurry at first, but it soon cleared after a few minutes.

"W-where am I?" he muttered in a low, drowsy voice.

That was when his K9 ears twitched at the sound of a door being opened. Colt turned his head to the side and saw Roger entering the room with the other K9 children walking in behind him.

"Hey, you're awake," said Roger as he walked up to Colt's bedside. "How are you feeling?"

"It feels like I've been body slammed into a thick metal wall," answered Colt with a groan. "Where the heck am I?"

"At Road Rover HQ recovery," answered Alexander softly to the golden-retriever. "You've really taken a beating from Tom after he went into his berserk mode."

"Don't remind me," grumbled Colt.

"You've winded up with two broken ribs after Tom slammed into the ground." Roger explained as he stood the closest to Colt's bed.

That was when Roger and the gang heard a groan on the right side of Colt's bed. They all turned their eyes on the bed that held Tom. Like Master had said, Tom had been changed back into his human form just incase he might go wild again within his dog form.

"Ugh…what hit me?" groaned Tom as he sat up in his bed while holding his bandaged head pain.

"A metal wall with me tackling into you is what hit you." Roger answered as he walked up to his human brother and stood beside his bed.

"What's that?" said Tom confused until his mind suddenly remembered the mission. "Hey, where did that Parvo guy go? I was just about to punch his light out when I entered the room."

"Really…and what else do you remember?" asked Roger suspiciously.

"After that…nothing," replied Tom as he tried very hard to remember. "Everything becomes blank after that."

"Are you sure?" questioned Colt with a frown.

"Yeah, I'm sure," answered Tom truthfully. "Why, what wrong?"

Roger turned his head to look at the others as he saw Akane, Simba, Alexander, and Nanuq nodding their heads at him. Roger gave a quick nod back before turning to Tom again and started explaining to him on what had happened within the Australian out back. Of him turning into a wild animal all the way up to what Master, and Professor Hubert had told them.

Tom and Colt were speechless after they had heard what Roger had told them. After a few moments of silence before Colt was finally the one to break it.

"You can't be serious!" exclaimed Colt as he bolted up from the bed, but quickly regretted it.

Pain shot through the young Mexican golden-retriever as he grunted in pain as he held his bandaged ribs.

"Be careful," warned Akane in a gentle voice.

"I am being serious Colt," replied Roger. "Other wise I would be laughing my head off after I saw the looks on both your face and my brother's face."

Tom looked up at Roger in shock: "So…you're saying that if I don't wear my bracelet…I'll turn into a monster when I transform into my K9 form?"

"Yes," replied Roger with a solemn nod.

"Liar…" voice Tom.

Roger narrowed his eyes at his brother as a frown started to form on his muzzle.

"Tom…"started Alexander, but Tom cut him off.

"You liar!" shouted Tom as he shot out of his bed and grabbed the front of Roger's uniform.

The clothes that Tom was wearing in his human form were a white short sleeve shirt with a dark blue vest over it, black jeans, and white socks. Roger only stood his ground as he looked into his brother's eyes with a calm stare. Roger noticed the size differences between him and his brother, and saw that he was only a few inches taller than him.

"You're just putting on an act so you could make me listen to your pleadings and stupid suggestions!" growled Tom as his hands clenched even tighter around Roger's uniform. "Well I'm not going to fall for it you got that? Because I'm way smarter than all of you put together! I'm also stronger than any of you and I'm older! So why don't you all just-"

That was when Roger finally snapped. The wolf/tiger suddenly grabbed hold of Tom's shirt with his left hand before pulling back his right fist and slamming it into his brother's face. Akane and the gang were shocked when they saw Roger slam his fist right into his brother's face before he pulled his brother towards him so that they were staring right into each other's eyes.

"Would I be lying to you when a serious situation like this comes into the conversation!?" barked Roger as he glared into his brother's wide eyes. "When we were little kids we would always tell lies to our parents so that we wouldn't get into trouble with them. And we would always keep secrets from them as well, but now the situation has changed here Tom! We're part of a super hero team now and we have a job to do here!"

"I know that," grumbled Tom under his breath.

"No, you don't!" snapped Roger again. "You don't think and you don't listen to anyone either. You only jump into danger without think of the consequences that might happen to our team mates or your life for that matter! This isn't a game Tom; this is real life!"

"Don't tell me what to do!" shouted Tom in anger. "I'm the leader and I can do whatever I want on this team!"

Everything became quiet within the room as Akane and the four boys stared at the two siblings with anticipation as they all tensed while waiting to see what will happen next. Roger's hand tightened around his brother's shirt for a moment before he shoved Tom back down onto the bed with a huff. Everyone thought that the argument was over, but Roger started to speak again.

"Tom…you are here by relieved of you duty as leader until further notice."

"What!?" shouted Tom in shock and anger.

The other kids gasped when they heard what Roger had said to his brother.

"You are relieved of your duty as leader until further notice, understand!?" repeated Roger with force as he glared down at his brother with his pupils turning into slits.

"You…you can't do that to me!" growled Tom in anger. "I'm the leader!"

"A leader that has a few issues that need to be sorted out," said a voice from the door of the recovery room.

Roger and the gang turned towards the door to see Hunter and his group walking into the room.

"Hunter," gapped Roger in surprisement. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We were just talking within Professor Hubert's lab when we heard the ruckus between you and your brother down the hall." Hunter answered as he and the gang stood in front of Roger and the group. "We were talking about the situation that concerns Tom's leadership before he and you started yelling at each other."

"Sorry about that," apologized Roger as he hung his head down in shame.

"Don't sweat it dude," reassured Hunter before the leader of the original Road Rovers turned his eyes on Tom with a frown on his muzzle. "But I'm thinking that you might have the right idea of pulling Tom out of his leadership duties for a while; so Tom, you are here by relieved of your duties as leader of your group until you've learned how to be more responsible."

Tom looked away from Hunter as he grounded his teeth in frustration. Roger looked at his brother with solemn eyes; for he knew that he and Hunter were being a little hard on Tom, but the 14 year old needed to how to be more responsible of his actions on the team. Roger soon turned to face Hunter as he held up his right hand with his palm facing up wards as Tom's collar lay on the flat of Roger's hand. Hunter took Tom's collar off from Roger's hand before looking at the wolf/tiger before Roger lowered his hand again

"Our team will have to stand on the sidelines for now until we can find a substitute to take up Tom's position or until Tom learns to be more matured in his actions," spoke Roger before he started to walk out of the room. "In the mean time, he can stay here at Road Rover HQ for a while until he recovers from his wounds."

"Wait a minute Roger, what about your parents?" asked Akane in a worried tone. "Wouldn't they start asking question on where your brother is?"

Roger stopped in his tracks before turning to look back at Akane with a smile.

"I'm going to tell them that Tom is staying over at a friend's house for a couple of days." Roger answered as he reassured Akane and the group about the problem at hand.

With that said Roger walked out of the room and disappeared around the corner of the entrance of the door.

Chamber room

Roger was walking towards his chamber before he stopped in his tracks as his eyes traveled down towards the tiled floor. The tiger/wolf stood in the middle of the room for about an hour as he searched through his thoughts as he tried to understand what had happened back there within the recovery.

Roger let out a sight: "What was I doing back there? One minute I was telling my brother on what had happened to him, then the next thing I knew I was snapping at him. And not only that, I've suddenly told him that he was demoted from his duty as leader. This is really getting too weird for me."

"Are you okay Roger?" asked a voice behind the tiger/wolf.

Roger turned around to look at the person that had spoken to him and saw Nanuq standing in front of him.

"Nanuq," said Roger surprised before looking down at the ground. "Its nothing, I'm fine."

"Sounds like nothing to me when you speak in that tone of voice," said Nanuq as he walked up to the tiger/wolf. "Do you want to talk to me about what's on your mind?"

Roger looked at Nanuq for a moment before taking a deep breath and started talking to the Malamute.

"Well…back there within the recovery room, did you think that I was out of line when I started to criticize my brother about his actions?"

"Kind of, yeah" answered Nanuq truthfully. "I was kind of surprised that you had opposed your brother like that. Usually younger sibling back down from their older sibling because they're afraid of getting hurt by them."

"Yeah, I know" muttered Roger in agreement. "But that's not all, when my brother changed into his monster form and was staring straight into my eyes I wasn't afraid of him. It was also the same when he grabbed me and started yelling as he glared into my eyes again. I just don't get what is going on with me today Nanuq; maybe something's wrong with me."

"I wouldn't think so," reassured Nanuq with a smile. "Besides, without your bravery on this team we K9 kids would be nothing but a nervous wreck of cowards."

Roger looked at Nanuq in surprise before smiling at the Alaskan malamute.

"Thanks man," said Roger as he held out his hand to Nanuq.

Nanuq nodded his head at the tiger/wolf before he clasped hands with Roger's hand and shook in a sign of friendship.

Alaska: Nanuq's home

Three days have since the kids went back to their respective homes (except for Simba, Tom, and Colt who are still staying in Road Rover HQ). Nanuq, now in his human form, was walking around the grounds of his grandfather's cottage as he was giving the huskies some fish for their morning breakfast. Nanuq soon came to the last of the dog's who was waiting patiently for his food. Nanuq smiled as he gave the gray husky the fish before he turned his gaze up towards the sky as he thought about Roger as a worried frown graced his face.

'I hope he's okay,' he thought quietly to himself.

Nanuq was suddenly brought out of his thoughts when he suddenly felt something rubbing up against his legs. The twelve year old looked down and saw Night-Star nuzzling his head against Nanuq's right leg. The boy smiled as he knelt down to his dog's height before he started to pet his friend on the head.

"Hey boy," greeted Nanuq gently to the black husky.

Just then, Nanuq suddenly heard a beeping noise from his left wrist. The Alaskan boy rolled up his left sleeve to see that it was his bracelet that was making the noise.

"I wonder what's up?" wondered Nanuq as he pressed one of the buttons on his bracelet. "This is Nanuq, how may I help you?"

"Nanuq, this is Master," answered the voice the voice over the intercom.

"Hey Master, what's up?"

"Nothing much," answered Master. "But I do need to ask a favor from you."

"Sure, what do you need?"

"Well, Hunter and the others are deciding on who should be the leader of your group, and I think they know just the person who can take up the job. I was wondering if you could bring one of your grandfather's huskies back with Road Rover HQ."

"Sure thing Master," replied Nanuq. "I'll be there as soon as I can, over and out."

With that said, Nanuq turned off the transmitter on his bracelet before turning to look at Night-star.

"Well boy, are you up for a little adventure?"

Night-star answered Nanuq's question by barking out a 'yes'. Nanuq smiled at his friend before he wrapped his right arm around his dog's neck before he pressed the button that will take him back to Road Rover HQ. A bright light surrounded the two and in a few seconds, they were gone.

Road Rover HQ

It had been five days since Tom was demoted from his role as leader. Everyone had been at their homes as they rested from their shocking first mission in Australia when Master suddenly called them yesterday to come to Road Rover HQ tomorrow morning. He and the older Road Rovers had finally come to a decision on who will be the new leader of Roger's group. The kids were excited about the news and couldn't wait to see who will be their new leader.

Roger and Alexander were the first ones to arrive at Road Rover HQ as they quickly ran to their transformation chambers to suite up when they appear in front of their new leader. The two boys stood in front of their respective pillars as they took off their bracelets and placed them within the cases that sat on top of them before they closed the lib on them. Roger and Alexander stepped into their respective chambers before the doors shut behind them. Smoke filled up within the chambers for a moment, but the doors soon opened again to revile Alexander and Roger in their K9 forms.

"I just love this machine!" cheered Roger with a smirk on his muzzle after he had stepped out of the chamber.

"I agree with you 100% there Roger," said Alexander with a nod.

The two K9 boys turned their heads to the other chambers on their far right as they watched Akane and Nanuq step out from their chambers.

"Morning boys," greeted Akane as she flicked a strand of hair from her face.

"Good morning Akane," greeted the K9 boys back to the female member of their team.

Akane turned to look at the boys as her eyes landed on Roger. The Japanese dog/girl gave the tiger/wolf a wink before walking off towards the doors that lead to the briefing room. Roger stared wide eyes at Akane as a blush formed on the side of both his cheeks; luckily his fur was hiding it from the other boys that might have spotted him blushing. The three boys quickly followed after Akane as they all went into the briefing room where Colt, Simba, Tom and the Road Rovers were waiting form them.

When the four K9 children stepped through the doors to the room they saw Hunter and the gang standing in front of them. Tom was still in his human form and was leaning up against the table within the briefing room.

"Hey Rover's, what's up?" greeted Roger cheerfully.

"Hey Roger," greeted Hunter back as he ruffled the fur/hair on the young tiger/wolf's head before he stopped and started to scratch under his chin in thought. "Hmm…have you've been growing or something, because you look different today somehow."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," cut in Tom impatiently as he pushed himself away from the table and stood standing straight in front of the other Road Rovers. "Can we just get down to business here?"

"Shut up muscle boy!" growled Blitz in anger. "Other wise I'll bite your tail!"

"Oh yeah?" challenged Tom as he growled back at Blitz. "I like to see ya try!"

Blitz and Tom were soon glaring at each other as they got ready to fight, but they were suddenly separated by both Simba and Exile.

"Come on you two, cut it out," pleaded Simba as he pushed against Tom's shoulders to keep him away from Blitz.

"Comrade Simba is right," pointed out Exile as he held Blitz back by the arms. "You two are acting like children that are fighting out spilt milk."

"But he started it!" echoed both Tom and Blitz as they pointed a finger at each other.

Roger shook his head at the two as a smile spread out across his face.

"Some things never change," he voiced with a light chuckle.

Muzzle nodded his head in agreement as he stood near Roger's side. The fighting desists when Master appeared on the balcony above the Rovers.

"Good morning Road Rovers," greeted Master to the group.

"Good morning Master," greeted back Roger and the group as they stood to attention in front of the human.

"As you all know a new leader will be chosen for the new Road Rover team that we have recruited within our head quarters," continued Master as he looked down at the K9 hero's. "And the Road Rover's, along with me, have already chosen who the new leader Roger's team will be. He has show great courage within his team, and he has also shown great leadership on his first mission to Australia."

That was when Master turned his eyes on Roger as he locked eyes on the young wolf/tiger. Roger's ears perked up as his eyes widened in realization when he figured out what Master was saying.

"Wait a minute Master, you don't mean…"

"Yes Roger," answered Master with a nod of his head. "You are the new leader of the K9 Rovers."

"What?!" shouted Tom in anger and disbelief.

"No way!" exclaimed Colt with wide eyes.

"Well it seemed plainly obvious," pointed out Alexander with a smile. "After all, Roger is the best candidate in taking up the leadership role."

"He also has a lot of courage and thinks before he acts within the face of danger," added Nanuq.

"And he's also good at battle strategies," chimed Simba.

Roger looked at his group with wide eyes before smiling at them: "Thanks guys, I promise that I'll be a good leader to all of you."

"I object!" shouted Tom in anger. "Roger is too young and too naïve to be leader of this group!"

"You just don't quite on criticizing your brother, do you?" grumbled Colt before speaking his own thoughts. "Well, as for my opinion on this situation, I don't really care on who is leader on this team."

"Sounds like you need to learn a lesson on how to be more compassionate towards other's young one."

Colt was startled when he suddenly heard a voice behind him and quickly turned around to look at the person that had spoken to him. The person that stood behind Colt was actually a black humanoid husky that had a white star on top of his forehead. The husky was wearing the same Road Rover uniform that all of the other Rover's were wearing.

"Who are you!?" demanded Tom in anger as he glared at the stranger.

"Take it easy Tom," soothed Hunter as he looked down at the human boy. "This is just someone that we had welcomed into the Road Rover team."

"And he happens to be a friend of mine," added Nanuq as he walked up to the black husky and stood in front of him.

The black husky smiled down at Nanuq as he ruffled the young malamute's head with his right hand.

"Nanuq is right about that," said the husky with a chuckle as he looked at the group before him. "My name is Night-Star, and I've been brought here to Road Rover HQ to help train Roger on his leadership skills."

"Really?" asked Roger as he walked up to Night-Star.

"Yes," replied Night-Star with a not. "But I'm not the only one that will be training you. Hunter will also be helping me with your training as well."

Roger turned to look at Hunter as a smile spread out across his face. Hunter smiled back at Roger as he gave the young wolf/tiger a wink.

"I can't let someone else train you all by themselves on my watch."

"Hunter, you're the best," commented Roger.

Tom just snorted as he turned away from the mushy scene before him. Colt only shrugged his shoulders before he walked out of the briefing room while the others just smiled as they looked at Roger who was almost close to tears. Roger wiped one stray tear away from his right eye with the back of his hand before smiling with confidence as he looked at the group in front of him. This was just another step for Roger and the gang as they started their new lives as Road Rovers.

To be continued


	9. Training, arguments and new names

Living a Different life

Training, arguments and new names

It was just another normal day for Roger as he walked through the front door of his house.

"Mom, Dad, I'm home!" shouted the 12 year old at the top of his lungs.

But there was no answer from his parents so the boy walked towards the kitchen to see if they were in there. When Roger got to the kitchen he found a note hanging on the door of the fridge. It said:

_Dear Roger_

_Your father and I have to work tonight so we'll be home at 12:30 at the latest. There is some money on the table so you can order a pizza for supper tonight._

_Love your mother_

"Figures," voiced Roger with a smile after he read the note. "Friday is always the day when mom and dad have to work late towards the midnight hours."

The young teenager soon turned away from the note and started up to his room. Once he entered his room Roger threw his backpack onto his bed. He sat down on his desk chair before he let out a sigh. Roger began to think about his older brother and wondered if he was okay at Road Rover HQ.

"I hope he's not causing any trouble for Hunter and the other Road Rovers," muttered Roger before a beeping noise from his wristband communicator suddenly went off. He quickly pressed the button to talk to the person on the other line. "Talk to me."

"Hey Roger, it's me" greeted Nanuq over the intercom. "I'm just calling in to let you know that the others and I are already at HQ. Are you going to join us for training?"

"I'll be there in two wages of a dog's tail," answered Roger with a smile.

The teenager soon pressed one of the buttons as he transported himself to Road Rover HQ.

Road Rover Home Base

Roger appeared in the chamber room before he quickly ran towards the chambers. He came up to the pedestal that stood near his own chamber as the young teenager detached his wristband from his wrist and placed it in the velvet of the case. Roger gently closed the lid of the metal case before stepping into the chamber as the doors closed behind him. The machine hummed to life as mist filled up within Roger's chamber before it finally stopped after a few moments. The doors of the chamber opened as Roger stepped out in his K9-mutant form. Roger quickly raced down the hallway towards the training room of Road Rover HQ where his friends and fellow teammates were waiting for him. He quickly found the training gym and saw that his teammates were hard at work as they each trained individually with one of the Road Rovers or by themselves.

Tom, who was in his K9 form, was lifting a thousand pound of weights as he counted to a million while Colt was holding two 10 pound barbells as he lifted them up towards his chest. Akane and Simba were practicing some martial art moves with Colleen as the two of them took turns in trying to out match the more experience Road Rover. Nanuq was near the pool as he sucked in a deep breath before letting it out in a gust as his ice breath instantly froze the water within the pool, and Alexander was going all out on his kick-boxing reflexes on a punching bag as Exile held the bag in place.

"Whoa, everyone sure is busy today," voiced Roger with a chuckle. "And it looks like Tom and Colt are in tip-top shape today as well."

"You can say that again," said a voice from behind the young tiger/wolf.

Roger turned around to face Hunter and Night-Star as they walked through the doors of the training room.

"Hey there Hunter," greeted Roger as he and Hunter gave each other a high five. "So what's been going on?"

"Nothing much," replied Hunter with a shrug of his shoulders. "But the dingo that you brought back to HQ a few weeks ago is now walking about and I have to say, she's a curious one."

"Oh, how so?" questioned Roger as he raised an eyebrow at the golden leader of the Road Rovers.

"Well young one, the she-dingo is checking out all of the different places within Road Rover HQ," answered Night-star with a chuckle. "So it won't be long until she finds her way here."

"Which would probably be right about…now," stated Roger with a smile when he sensed the dingo coming their way.

The sound of paws running down the hall caught the ears of the three dogs and before they knew it the she-dingo came bounding into the room. The she-dingo jumped up on Roger as she tail wagging happily in greeting. The 12 year old chuckled as the she-dingo licked his face before he began to pet the wild dog on the head.

"Okay, okay, easy girl," said Roger as he looked at the female dingo with a smile. "It's good to see you too and I'm glad that you're back on your feet again."

The dingo let out a whine of happiness as Roger set her back down on the ground while he petted her on the head. Roger soon straightened up again so he could look at Hunter and Night-star.

"So what's on today's schedule?" asked Roger out of curiosity.

"Well young Roger, today you are going to be working with your teammates again today so that we can see if you can instruct them on what they have to do in the heat of battle." Night-star informed the tiger/wolf as he explained what the young boy's training was today.

Roger went ridged when Night-star told him what he was going to do today. He swallowed a bit of saliva down his dry throat nervously. This was one of his lest favorite parts of his training. It's true that Roger had accepted the role of leader, but he was still unsure about how he should operate his team on the battle field and he was still having trouble in getting Tom and Colt to cooperate with the team.

"A-are you sure that we should try the leadership training again?" questioned Roger as he rubbed his left hand up and down his right arm.

"You know that you'll have to lead your team on a mission someday," reasoned Hunter as he placed his hands on Roger's shoulders. "You can't keep ignoring the role of leadership forever."

"Yeah," muttered Roger as he nodded his head in agreement. "It's just that…every time we go through this simulation the team and I always mess up. On top of that, Tom and Colt don't seem to listen to me."

"Leadership is never an easy task Roger," said Hunter gently to the younger rover. "All you can do is keep trying your best and who knows, maybe your brother and Colt will listen to you someday."

"I don't know if that will happen any time soon," voiced Roger with a shrug. "I mean, Tom is my older brother so that makes him the top dog within the family."

"Yeah, but he doesn't have to right qualities of being a leader," stepped in Night-star. "He's too reckless and he relies too much on his strength."

"But still-" started Roger.

"Roger, if you keep on doubting yourself then you might wind up doubting yourself in the battle field," interjected Hunter.

Roger looked down at the ground as he bit the bottom of his lip in thought: '_He's right, if I don't start acting like a leader than I might wind up losing my team members in our first fight against evil._'

"Alright," sighed Roger in defeat as he looked up at Hunter. "I'll give it a shot."

"And that's all we can ask of you Roger," reassured Hunter as he lightly pat the tiger/wolf on the shoulder before he straightened up again. "Just give it your best today."

Roger nodded his head before he turned around and called out to his team members: "Akane! Simba! Nanuq! Alexander! Tom! Colt! Front and center!"

The younger Road Rovers quickly dropped what they were doing as they came running towards Roger. Tom let out a groan when he heard his brother call out to him before he dropped his weight down on the ground as it landed with a loud thud.

"What does the little runt want now?" questioned the 14 year old in annoyance.

"Probably another training session on us working as a team," answered Colt as he set his barbells down.

"Ha!" scoffed Tom with a smirk before he and Colt started walking towards Roger and their other team members, "Yeah right."

Roger's team members gathered around the tiger/wolf as they waited to hear on what he had to say to them.

"Okay team," started Roger. "We're going to try working together as a team again today, so I want everyone to listen carefully to my instructions when we are in a simulation room, okay?"

"Who died and left you in charge?" grumbled Tom as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Hey, back of Tom!" growled Nanuq as he glared up at the 14 year old. "Roger's our leader so don't you disrespect him!"

"Ha!" scoffed Tom once again. "My brother can't even lead a group of ducks across a road much less a whole team of dogs through a winter storm!"

"Remind me again why we have this guy on our team?" whispered Simba to Alexander.

"Because he's the muscle brain of our group," answered Alexander with a smirk.

Akane giggled beside Alexander when she heard what the young grey wolf mutant had said to their wild-dog friend. Colt also heard what Alexander said and couldn't help but smirk at the joke the Scotland boy had made. Roger smile as he rolled his eyes at his grey wolf teammate before he cleared his throat.

"Moving on!" began Roger as he got his team's attention again before he turned to look at Hunter and Night-star. "So how are we going to do this?"

"Well, you and your team are going to try fighting at level two today within the simulation room," answered Night-star. "You will be given four hours in destroying some of the androids that will attack you while also showing teamwork in the process."

"Okay," said Roger with a nod of his head before he turned to look at his team members again. "Now let's get started on this training session."

All of the team members, minus Tom and Colt, nodded their heads at their leader before they followed him towards the doors that will lead them to the simulation room.

In the simulation room

Roger quickly rolled out of the way as he ducked in cover from the laser blasts of the robots before he pointed his rifle at the robot that was shooting at him. The simulation room took on a realistic hologram of a rocky terrain as Roger, and his team, are being attacked by 30 robots with high powered lasers that were being fired at them.

"Man, this is really turning into a heated battle!" shouted Nanuq as he quickly shot at one of the robots before he ducked down behind the bolder that he and Roger were hiding behind.

"Then why don't we change the temperature on these robots," suggested Roger to his malamute friend before he turned to look up at two rocky cliffs that hung just above the robots that stood outside the canyon entrance. "We'll use those cliffs to make an avalanche."

"Okay, but how are we going to get those robots close enough for them rocks to squish them?" questioned Nanuq.

"Leave that to me," answered Roger. "Now go find Akane, Simba, Alex, Colt and Tom. We'll use the pincer movement."

"Got it," barked Nanuq as he quickly ran off to find the others while making sure to keep his head down within the crossfire.

Roger leaned up against the bolder as he took in a deep breath as he began to think over what he had to do: '_I hope I know what I'm doing._'

The young tiger/wolf steeled himself before he shot out of his hiding stop and raced towards the robots in a blur. Nanuq quickly met up with Simba, Alexander and Akane as they shot at the robots that were firing at them.

"Guys, Roger just gave us an order!" shouted the malamute to his team members. "We're going to do a pincer movement! We're going to shoot at those rocks on the cliff, but we have to wait until Roger can bring those robots forward! So Simba, you come with me! Akane, you and Alexander take second point!"

"Right!" echoed Akane, Simba and Alexander.

They got up to leave when Nanuq quickly stopped them: "Wait a minute, where's Tom and Colt?"

"We thought they were with you and Roger," answered Simba.

"Oh, I hope those two aren't off battling those robots by themselves," muttered Akane.

"Ugh, we don't have time to look for them!" exclaimed Alexander in anger. "We have to keep going with the plan or else we're toast!"

"No, we have to tell Colt and Tom about Roger's plan or else this whole training will end up like our last one!" barked Nanuq at Alexander. "I'm going to go look for them, you three get into your positions!"

Akane, Simba and Alexander reluctantly nodded their heads at Nanuq before they scrambled to get into their positions. Nanuq quickly ran off to look for Colt and Tom. Roger was racing in and out of the robots as he created a distraction to keep the robots attention on him so that his team could get set up. Roger stopped once between two robots as he looked at them with a smirk.

"Come on you trash buckets, is that really the best you can do?" teased the tiger/wolf.

He quickly took off again as the two robots pointed their guns at the 12 year old before they fired their lasers off at him, but instead of hitting the wolf/tiger they winded up blasting each other to bits. Roger stopped for a moment before shrugging his shoulders with a lopsided grin on his face.

With Nanuq, he was still looking for Tom and Colt while dodging the laser fire as a few robots shot at him.

"Where can those two be?" voiced the malamute in exasperation before he fired at one of the robots that shot at him.

Just then, Nanuq's nose caught scent of the team's muscle brain and stealth hounds, he quickly turned his gaze towards the rock formation's cliffs and saw the two of them standing on top of the two cliffs as they looked down at the group of robots before them.

"Oh no," muttered Nanuq as he felt a cold grip of fear over come him.

He quickly ran off towards the cliffs so that he can warn his teammates that Tom and Colt were in their line of fire, but luckily he didn't have to for Akane quickly spotted them with her eyesight and quickly signaled for Simba and Alexander to hold their fire.

"What are those morons doing up there!" yelled Simba in anger as he glared up at Colt and Tom.

"I don't know!" answered Nanuq as he got closer to the team. "And I don't want to stick around to find out!"

"We gotta fall back!" shouted Alexander.

"But what about Roger?" called out Akane, "We can just leave him undefended!"

"And we won't," answered Nanuq as he placed a reassuring hand on the hovawart's shoulder. "We'll fall back a few paces and provide him with back-up."

Akane reluctantly nodded her head in agreement. She and her two team members followed behind Nanuq before they were a safe distance away from the twin cliffs. They weren't the only ones that were aware of the situation at hand. Roger had sensed that his teammates had retreated a few distances away from their posts and when he looked up he saw the reason why. He let out a growl of annoyance but continued on with his plan before stopping to stand in front of the few robots that were left.

"Come on you bolt brains, bet you can't catch me!" he shouted before he began to run towards the cliffs at his normal human speed.

As predicted, the robots followed Roger as the young tiger/wolf led them towards the gap between the two cliffs. Akane and the other three males of her group got their weapons ready to fire incase one of the robots tried anything to prevent Roger from leading them towards the cliffs. Roger kept running towards the cliffs as he tried to keep his normal speed in check.

"Not yet Roger," he whispered to himself as he neared the gap between the cliffs. "Only accelerate when you get between the rock formations."

Nanuq watched in anxiousness as their team leader grew closer to the rock formations. The malamute looked up to see what Tom and Colt were doing, and what he saw made his eyes go wide in fright. Tom was holding a large boulder high above his head that looked to be 5,000 pounds. Nanuq quickly shouted out towards Roger.

"Roger, above you!"

Roger quickly looked up towards the cliffs and saw Tom holding the boulder and that was when he shifted into high gear. Roger streaked through the two cliffs before Tom threw the bolder down towards the ground below. In that act, the robots that had been following Roger were quickly destroyed with only two robots remaining, but they were quickly dismantled when a metal boomerang cut through them. The boomerang flew through the air before coming back to it thrower which happened to be Colt.

"Scratch two oversized toaster ovens," muttered Colt as he strapped his boomerang to his belt.

Roger panted as he tried to catch his breath again while Nanuq, Akane, Alexander and Simba ran up to him.

"Are you okay?" asked Simba in concern.

"I'm fine," answered Roger with a smile as he placed a hand on the African wild-dog's shoulder.

But his smile turned into an angry frown before he shouted up at the sky: "Shut down simulation exercise!"

The room glowed for a few minutes before the rocky terrain disappeared and was replaced with an empty, metal coated room. Tom stood in front of Roger and the group with a smirk on his muzzle as Colt stood beside him.

"You see Colt, I told you my plan would work," said Tom as he looked at the golden retriever beside him.

"Oh, and what was your plan?" questioned Roger in anger as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Was it to flatten me with that boulder you threw at those training robots?"

"Hey, ease up little bro," Tom chuckled as he shrugged off Roger's anger. "After all, this simulation test was for us to destroy the most robots, right?"

"It was also supposed to show how this group should work together as a team!" barked Roger as he marched over to his brother. "Where were you when we were being pinned down by those robots?"

"I was off somewhere with Colt so that we could chill out and formulate a plan together," Tom bluntly said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Is that your only excuse?" questioned Roger as he began to feel the same anger he had felt when Tom was fussing over being reassigned from his duty as leader. "To leave the team hanging within the jaws of death while you just chilled out with Colt here so that you can formulate a plan on how to get your teammates killed?"

"Just what the heck is a matter with you guys?" growled Alexander as he and the others stood behind Roger in anger. "You were supposed to watch our backs while we were busting our tails off in shooting those robots down."

"So, why should we risk our necks out in helping you kids with blowing up robots when our way was better?" replied Colt in a lazy voice.

"Yeah," agreed Tom. "We decided to let my little brother do all the work by leading those cyber dimwits to the two cliffs."

Roger soon became more enraged than ever before as he glared up at his older brother: "So you used me for your own benefits huh? Just like a coward."

Tom looked down at his brother in shock before it turned to anger: "What did you just call me, runt?"

Roger didn't answer for he only turned away from Tom and began to walk away with Nanuq, Akane, Simba and Alexander right behind him. Alexander gave Tom and Colt a cold glare while the other three merely ignored the two.

Simulation control room

The older Road Rovers had been monitoring their trainees and they had been impressed by how well Roger had been leading his team, but they were greatly displeased when Tom and Colt decided to abandon their team within the heat of battle.

"Ack, those two boys are nothing but trouble!" exclaimed Blitz as he pointed at the screen that displayed both Tom and Colt.

"I have to agree with Blitz here Hunter," stepped in Exile. "Those two boys are only messing things up for Roger and his team."

Shag also mumbled in agreement. Colleen was standing beside Hunter while Night-star stood on the golden leader's right as the husky let out a sigh of frustration.

"This is becoming quite a challenge for our young Road Rover," voiced Night-star. "If this keeps up then we'll have no choice but to pull Tom and Colt out of the boy's team."

"I'm also thinking the same thing Night-star," agreed Hunter sadly. "Tom and Colt think too much about themselves, on top of that they leave their team members to face their battles on their own. They don't even know what teamwork is all about."

"And there's also the fact that they're too cocky," added Colleen as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Hunter and the others all nodded in agreement to what the Collie was saying before they all went into deep thought about what they should do with Tom and Colt.

With Roger and his team

Roger, Akane, Nanuq, Simba and Alexander were back in the training room so that they could get away from Tom and Colt for a while. The female dingo had joined them as she sat beside Akane while she let the young hovawart pet her head. The four team members watched their leader use his super speed as he ran around the racetrack within the training room. Roger was letting off steam from the anger that had built up within his system. The team was sitting on the ground just a few feet away from the racetrack so that they wouldn't get blown away by Roger's fast running.

"So…" Simba started as he watched the blur that was their leader run around the track. "How long do you think he'll keep this up?"

"Who knows," answered Alexander with a shrug of his shoulders.

"I just hope he doesn't tire himself out," voiced Nanuq to Akane.

Akane nodded her head in agreement while the dingo watched Roger in worry. The team watched their leader for probably 5 hours until Roger finally stopped so that he could catch his breath. The 12 year old panted as he leaned forward while he braced himself against his knees. Soon his four team members stood up from the ground as they walked over to their tired leader.

"You okay?" asked Akane in a worried voice.

"Yeah…I'm fine now," panted Roger as he cast Akane a reassuring smile, "Just had to get all of the extra energy out of my system."

"We can't blame you," said Simba as he placed a hand on Roger's shoulder. "Tom and Colt can really get under people's skin sometimes."

"Yeah I know," agreed Nanuq as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Sometimes I'm tempted in freezing them with my ice breath and leaving them in a freezer for all eternity."

"That would be too good for them," Akane disagreed with a shake of her head.

"Okay, guys, lets just forget about my brother and Colt for a while," interjected Roger as he quickly changed the subject for his group. "I think we should move on to something else."

"Like what?" asked Simba before the she-dingo walked up to Akane's side and began to nuzzle against the female team member's leg.

"Well for one thing, I think that we should figure out what we should call our friend here," answered Akane with a smile as she looked down at she-dingo before her.

"Akane's right," stepped in Roger as he looked down at the she-dingo. "After all, we can't just keep calling her she-dingo forever, but what should we call her?"

The whole group went into thought as they tried to decide what they should call the she-dingo. The she-dingo stared up at the K9 children in curiosity as she cocked her head to one side. The group thought about some of the names that they could give the dingo, but so far, none of the names they thought up seemed to fit the dingo. Roger finally broke the silence by snapping his fingers.

"I got it," he announced to the group. "How about we call her 'Sandy'?"

"Well…I guess that suits her," said Nanuq as he scratched the side of his head in thought.

"I think that's a good name for her," stepped in Akane with a nod of her head.

"Sure, why not," piped in Simba with a shrug of his shoulders.

"I have nothing against it," added Alexander.

"Okay, it's decided then. From now on the she-dingo's name is Sandy," said Roger with a nod of his head before looking down at the dingo in front of him. "What do you say girl?"

The she-dingo let out a bark of excitement when she heard that she now had a name. Just then, Simba suddenly had an idea.

"Hey guys, do you think the other Road Rover's will let Sandy join their group?" asked the African wild-dog to his group.

"Maybe," replied Roger with a shrug of his shoulders. "Who knows?"

"Actually I think that would be a great idea," said Hunter as he and his team entered the training room. "We could always use a new member on our team."

Roger, Akane, Nanuq, Simba and Alexander looked at the Road Rover's for a moment before they turned to look at each other before they let out a cheer as they did a group high-five: "ALRIGHT!"

Hunter smiled at the enthusiasm of Roger's team before his smile turned into a frown: "Roger, is it alright that I talk to you for a moment?"

Roger looked up at Hunter in confusement, but nodded his head at the older leader before he and Hunter walked away from their groups so that they could talk in privet with each other. They walked out of the training room so that the others wouldn't over hear their conversation.

"So what do you need to talk about?" asked Roger after the doors to the training room closed behind them.

"I think you already know," answered Hunter as he leaned up against the opposite side of the hallway's walls.

Roger let out a sigh when he knew what Hunter was getting at: "I just don't know what to do with Colt and Tom. They're just so…I don't know, more free willed. Also, my brother is really stubborn and only cares about him self."

"So what do you think you want to do with those two?" questioned Hunter as he stared at his young friend curiously.

"I'm thinking that I should…cut them loose," replied Roger as he looked down at the ground with his hands on his waist. "But…I don't know how to tell them."

"Me and my team were also thinking the same thing," voiced Hunter. "We think that Tom and Colt aren't ready to be part of the Road Rover team. They're just too reckless and they don't seem to understand the meaning of team work yet."

Roger nodded his head in agreement before the two of them went into silence. Roger began to think of how he should tell his brother and Colt about what he was think and what was best for his team.

"I'm going to have to discuss this with Akane and the others about this tomorrow," Roger spoke after a long silence as he looked up at Hunter. "We'll take it to a vote to decide what we should do with our two teammates."

"Okay," said Hunter with a nod of his head. "I'll let you and your teammates sort this it out with each other."

"Thank you Hunter," responded Roger with gratitude.

"Any time Champ," said Hunter as he pushed himself off the wall before he placed a hand on Roger's shoulder. "After all, you are the future leader of your group. You have to figure out what is best for your team while making hard decisions within the process."

Roger nodded his head as a small smile graced his face. The two of them walked back into the training room and what they saw in there was something that Roger hoped wouldn't happened within his team. Roger saw Nanuq and Tom fighting with each other while the others watched on helplessly. Nanuq grabbed Tom by the front of his uniform before he punched the 14 year old in the muzzled which sent the Beauceron stumbling backwards, but Tom quickly got his balance back before he gave a hard punch to Nanuq's chest. The force of the punch sent the young malamute flying towards the walls of the training room. Roger's eyes widened before he quickly shot off like a rocket across the room.

Roger caught Nanuq in midair before the two of them landed on the floor with a hard thud. Roger shot up as he looked down at his friend and team member.

"Are you alright Nanuq?" asked the young tiger/wolf.

Nanuq let out a grunt as he slowly sat up from the floor while holding his chest in pain.

"Yeah, I think I'm okay," responded Nanuq.

Roger soon turned towards Tom in anger as he stood up from the ground and marched towards his brother and the other Road Rovers.

"What the heck was going on here!" demanded Roger angrily.

"That's none of your business little brother," spat Tom as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"It is my business when there is fighting between team members within this group!" growled Roger as he stood in front of his older brother as his golden eyes glared into Tom's blue eyes. "Now…tell me, what happened here or else I'm going to put you through a three month military training!"

"Tom and Nanuq got into an argument over who is the better leader within the group," Colt bluntly replied.

Tom glared at Colt in anger when the golden retriever had told Roger what had happened: "You smelly little…"

"Enough!" barked Hunter as he came up towards Tom.

The leader of the original Road Rovers was equally as mad with Tom's behavior: "If you can't work with your team than you shouldn't be in the same room with them."

"I can do whatever I want you over grown mutt!" argued Tom as he poked Hunter in the chest. "That means I can criticize my team to my own enjoyment."

"Hey you over grown muscle brain!" shouted Akane as she glared at the 14 year old before her. "A team is supposed to work together with each other, not claw at each other's throats."

"Then you're living in a fantasy kid," muttered Tom with a wave of his hand. "I don't work with weaklings."

"Then that only makes you the lone wolf of the group," Alexander pointed out as he glared at Tom.

"That's rich, coming from a guy who's already a wolf," countered Tom with a smirk.

Alexander flinched when Tom reminded him what he was. The young Scotland boy looked down at the ground in defeat as hurt consumed his soul.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" roared Roger at the top of his lungs.

His voice was so loud that the Road Rovers and the K9 mutant children could have sworn that Roger had roar like a tiger. Tom was wide eyed in shock and surprise when he heard how Roger had forced his voice to yell like that. Shag was so startled by Roger's roar that he leapt into Exile's arms as he let out a whimper while Blitz shook in fear as he stared at Roger in shock.

"Oh, remind me to never get on his bad side," voiced the Doberman to no one in particular.

Sandy let out a whimper as she agreed with what Blitz had just said. Roger was breathing hard as the pupils within his eyes turned into slits as he glared at his brother.

"Get out of this room right now and head towards the chambers!" ordered the tiger/wolf to his older brother. "Turn into your human form and transport yourself back home. There's some money back home so you can order pizza for yourself, I'll be following right behind you. I'll be talking with you later, now GO!"

Tom was too stunned by Roger's commanding voice that he didn't know how to respond, so did what his little brother told him to do. The 14 year old slowly walked out of the room towards the door that will lead him to the chamber room while Roger glared at him as he carefully watched his brother's movements. Tom soon left the room as the doors closed behind him. Roger stood glaring at the door for a moment before he let out a frustrating sigh as his shoulders slumped in exhaustion.

Akane was the first one to come up to Roger's side as she placed her hands on the young tiger/wolf's right arm: "Are you alright?"

"No, I'm not," answered Roger softly as he shook his head slowly.

Nanuq slowly walked up to Roger while holding his chest tenderly. Roger looked at his malamute friend as a worried look came over his face.

"Nanuq," started Roger as he stared at his teammate. "What exactly happened between you and my brother?"

"Well…" began Nanuq gently. "Your brother walked into the room from the simulation area with Colt and he started talking about you. He said that you were the weakest member of our team because he thought you were too empathetic and then he said that you were better off as…chop liver."

"And that's when the whole grudge match started," stepped in Simba. "I'm sorry that we didn't stop them in time before you and Hunter came back."

"It wasn't your fault," reassured Roger softly before he let out a sigh. "I think that we should forget about this for now, it's been a long day for everyone today."

"I agree young Roger," spoke Night-star. "But I think that we should discuss something before we let you all go home."

"What about?" questioned Colt coolly as he glared up at the black husky in suspicion.

"Well," started Hunter as he stared at Roger and his group. "The team and I were talking about changing your names, because we don't want anyone recognizing you guys when you're fighting bad guys. If your enemies figure out who you really are then they'll go after you and your family."

"That's a good point," said Roger as he rubbed his chin in thought. "If our enemies find out that we kids can turn back into humans than they'd have the advantage over us."

"Then we should pick out code names for ourselves," stated Alexander. "But the only question is; what do we call each other?"

"Well I know what I want to call myself," announced Nanuq with a smirk. "Just call me Niyol, it means 'wind' in Native-American."

"Taka," stepped in Akane as she smiled proudly at her teammates. "It means 'Hawk' in japanese."

"Call me 'Naasir'," said Simba as he pointed to himself. "It means 'Defender'."

"Wolfgang," piped Alexander.

"The name is Shadow, so remember it," voiced Colt with a smirk.

"Now that only leaves me," voiced Roger as he crossed his arms over his chest as he mulled over some of the names that went through his head.

The tiger/wolf bit his lower jaw gently before he finally came up with a name: "I think I'll call my self…Bolt."

"I think those names suit all of you," spoke Hunter with a nod of approval before he turned to his team members. "What do you guys think?"

"They sound fine to me Huntie," answered Colleen with smile.

"Even I have to admit, those names sound pretty good," replied Blitz.

"I haven't any problems with those names either comrade," stepped in Exile while Shag mumbled in agreement.

"Those names are perfect for you young ones," said Night-star with a smile. "Now that only leaves the absent member of our team."

"I think I have a name for my brother," said Roger with a smile. "Since he loves his strength so much, why don't we call him 'Atlas' after the Greek titan who held up the heavans from the earth?"

"I guess that's as good a name as any," responded Exile with a shrug of his shoulders.

Hunter and the others nodded their heads in agreement along with Roger's group.

"Okay, then it's decided," said Roger with a nod of his head. "I'll talk to my brother and see how he'll like it."

Roger and Tom's home

Roger, in his human form, had transported back to his bedroom and was now sitting at his desk while he absentmindedly looked down at his wrist communicator. Roger had found his brother, in his human form, lying on the couch with his hands behind his head as the 14 year old stared up at the ceiling within the living room with an angry look on his face. The young 12 year old decided to leave his brother alone for a while before he talked to Tom and that gave Roger sometime to think.

'_What am I going to do?_' thought Roger as he slumped down on to his desk. '_I know I'm supposed to do what is best for the team, but does kicking my brother out really help the matters? And what about Colt, his stealth skills can really come in handy within our team someday. This is really starting to become very frustrating. I don't think I'm ready to lead the team. What if I mess up?_'

The young 12 year old soon buried his head in his arms as he began to feel the frustrations of today's events catching up with him. Roger was suddenly startled out of his thoughts when he heard a knock on his door.

"Who is it?" called Roger to the person on the other side of the door.

"It's just me," replied the voice of Tom from behind Roger's door. "I just came to tell you that pizza had arrived."

"Thanks," voiced Roger before he decided that now was the time to talk to his brother. "Tom…can you come in here for a moment, I need to talk to you."

Tom's only response was of him opening the door of his brother's room before he walked in: "What is it that you want shrimp?"

"Well…" Roger started as he stared up at his older brother. "The others and I had a meeting that concerned our names."

"And just what is wrong with our names?" demanded Tom as he grew suspicious on what his brother was saying.

"Nothing's wrong with them," responded Roger as he stood up from his chair so that he can get eye level with his brother. "It's just that…we had to change them, so we gave each other code names. That way the enemies we'll be facing within the future won't know who we are."

"Yeah right," scoffed Tom as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Like I would want to change my name to something stupid that you guys picked out yourselves."

Roger let out a sigh for he knew that this would turn into an argument: "Tom, who do you care most about other than yourself?"

"Our parents, so?" questioned Tom after he answered his brother's question.

"So…if our enemies find out about our true identities then that will put not only us in danger, but our parents in danger as well," Roger reasoned.

Tom froze when he heard what Roger had just said before he bit his bottom lip in nervousness for it their enemies did find out about their true identities then that will mean that their parents will get caught within the crossfire of their battle. The older sibling let out a frustrating sigh before he turned to look at his brother again.

"So what's the name that you've picked out for me?" asked Tom slowly in hesitation.

"Well, the team and I know how much you love your strength so we decided to call you Atlas after the god that held the heavens and earth on his shoulders." Roger replied. "What do you think?"

"Hmm…Atlas huh?" voiced Tom as he tested out his new name. "That doesn't sound half bad."

"I thought you might like it," Roger chuckled.

"Okay, okay, now that we've gotten that out of our system lets go down stairs before our pizza gets cold."

Roger nodded as he watched his brother retreat out of his room and that was when he began to think about his decision that he was going to make with his group tomorrow. Was he really doing the right thing? That question was pushed a side for now as the 12 year old followed his older brother downstairs to the kitchen.

To be continued


	10. Part 1

Living a Different life

I do not own Road Rover characters, only the characters that I made up within my story.

The difficult decision and the mistake that nearly killed Colt: Part 1

It was just another normal day for Roger and the gang as they did a round of training with each other while the Road Rovers supervised them from afar. Roger was giving a few good round house hits on the punching bag as Nanuq held it still for him.

"Come on Roger, you gotta hit better than that," encouraged Nanuq with a smirk.

"I'll give you a better hit," voiced Roger playfully before he drew his right fist back.

The tiger/wolf quickly threw his fist forward and before the Malamute knew it, he was on the floor as he lied on his back while facing Roger with a stunned yet amazed look on his face.

"Whoa, now that is what I call a right hook," complemented Nanuq as Roger walked over to him before he held a hand out to help the malamute up.

"Sorry about that," Roger apologized with a smile as he pulled Nanuq back up onto his feet again. "I guess I just don't know my own strength sometimes."

"Ha!" scoffed a voice from behind Roger. "You call that a punch? That's pathetic!"

Roger let out a sigh as he turned around to face his brother, Tom: "Then what would you call that punch Tom?"

"A wimpy punch," responded Tom with a smirk before he drew his right fist.

After a second, the oldest team member shot his fist forward and punched the sandbag before drawing his fist back. Roger and Nanuq stared unimpressed as sand started to fall out of the hole of the punching bag that the Beauceron made. Tom smirked as he kissed his fist before he turned to face the two younger Road Rovers.

"No one can beat my strength," boasted Tom before he walked off with his head held high in pride.

Roger and Nanuq watched Tom for a moment before the two of them turned to look at each other.

"That guy is asking for it," growled Nanuq as he crossed his arms over his chest as he glared after Tom's retreating form.

"Easy, Nanuq," soothed Roger as he tried to calm his friend down. "Don't let Tom get to you, besides we'll discuss this in the meeting that we'll be having later after we finish up our training."

Nanuq nodded his head at the tiger/wolf as a frown played out across his muzzle.

"Come on, how about we race each other once around the track." Roger suggested as he wrapped an arm around the Malamute's shoulders.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" exclaimed Nanuq as he stared at Roger in disbelief. "You'll surely leave me in the dust with that super speed of yours."

"Don't worry buddy, I'll make sure to keep my normal speed up so that we can have a fair race with each." Roger reassured with a smile on his muzzle.

"Alright," said Nanuq before he playfully shoved Roger away from him. "But if you use that super speed of yours then I'll give you the cold shoulder, literally."

"Deal," laughed Roger as he playfully punched Nanuq in the shoulder.

Akane and Alexander were sparing with each other on the mats as Colleen watched the two trainees in front of her. Alexander did a round house kick towards Akane's head, but the Hovawart quickly duck underneath the wolf's kick before sweeping her right leg underneath Alexander's left leg and sent the wolf falling to the ground.

"Very good Akane," congratulated Colleen as she clapped her hands at the performance that had been displayed before her.

"Thank you Colleen," said Akane with a bow before she went over to Alexander.

Akane held her hand out towards Alexander which the wolf gratefully took as the Hovawart pulled him up.

"You're getting better Alex," commented Akane to the wolf.

"Yeah, but I still got a long way to go before I even come close to your level," stated Alexander as he let go of Akane's hand and began to dust himself off.

"Don't worry gov'" reassured Colleen as she walked up to Alexander and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You just need a little more practice that's all."

"More like a lot of practice," replied a voice on the side lines.

Akane, Alexander and Colleen turned their eyes towards the voice and saw Colt walking towards them.

"Well I haven't fought before," said Alexander as the golden retriever stopped in front of him. "After all, I have been bound to a wheelchair my whole lift."

"Then why are you even here?" questioned Colt coldly.

"W-well I want to be able to help people who might be in trouble," answered Alexander as he rubbed his right arm uncomfortably.

"Is that all," said Colt with an unimpressed look on his face. "Well what if those people don't want your help? What if they just see you as a monster that just wants to eat them?"

"Hey, back off Colt!" shouted Simba as he ran over to the group when he saw what was going on. "Alexander is not a monster. He has more heart on this team than you or Tom will ever know!"

"That's rich, coming from an African orphan!" scoffed Colt as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"That coming from the mouth of a Mexican orphan thief!" countered Simba with a snarl.

That really struck a cord on Colt's nerves as the golden retriever started to growl at Simba with the African Wild Dog snarling right back at him as the two locked eyes on each other.

Roger and Nanuq stopped what they were doing when they heard that another fight was going to break out. Roger quickly used his super speed as he raced over to the two mutant children before he stood between Colt and Simba. The tiger/wolf grabbed his two teammate's noses while glaring at them.

"That's enough you two!" growled Roger strictly. "We should be focusing on being a team instead of biting off each other's heads!"

"Don't tell me what to do!" shouted Colt as he batted Roger's hand away from his nose. "I don't take orders from you!"

Roger lowered his other hand away from Simba's nose as he glared into Colt's eyes: "That's the kind of attitude that will get you into trouble someday."

"I don't get into trouble because I look out for only myself!" snarled Colt before he turned and walked away.

Roger watched the golden retriever for a moment before letting out a sigh: "This is really getting out of hand."

"I'll say," voiced Nanuq as he came up to the group. "First we get turned into K9's, then Tom starts acting as if he knows what he's doing and then I was punched in the chest by that macho-maniac!"

"Not to mention that Tom and Colt are slacking in cooperating with this team," added Simba in anger.

"Yeah," agreed Alexander as he balled his hands into fists. "Sometimes they just make me so mad that I just want to-"

"Enough," ordered Roger as he cut off Alexander's sentence while looking at his three teammates. "We'll discuss this later; right now let's just finish our training."

Nanuq, Simba, Alexander and Akane nodded their heads before they all went in different directions of the gym. Roger stood on the mats as he took a breath in before letting out a sigh. He then turned to look at Colleen.

"Colleen…do you think that I'm doing the right thing?" asked the tiger/wolf to the collie.

"It's not in my category to say Roger," answered Colleen with a shake of her head. "For I am only second in command of Hunter's group, but whatever you chose I'm sure your team will stand by you, no matter what you choose."

Roger only looked at Colleen for a moment before he walked off to another part of the gym. Colleen watched the young tiger/wolf for a moment as a sad look came into her eyes. She knew that Roger was having a hard time in taking up the role as leader and though of going after him, but decide to give him sometime to think things over by himself.

Roger walked around the gym for a moment before he noticed a familiar face walking towards him. It was Sandy, in her new cano-sapien form while wearing the same uniform as the other Road Rovers. Roger instantly perked up when he saw the dingo.

"Hey there Sandy," greeted Roger with a smile on his face.

"G'day Roger," greeted Sandy in an Australian accent. "How are ya?"

"I'm okay," replied Roger with a shrug of his shoulders. "But it's more than what I could say for the rest of my team."

"Well, don't let it get you down mate," encouraged Sandy as she gently placed her hand on Roger's shoulder. "Like my mother always says: 'Things are never easy when you keep chasing your tail'."

Roger gave Sandy a funny look when he heard what she quoted from her mother, but knew where the dingo was coming from. Things are never really easy no matter how hard you try to make them. Just then, he heard the familiar sound of Muzzle bouncing towards him as the wolf/tiger turned to see the Rottweiler approaching him.

"Hey there Muzzle, how's it waging?" greeted Roger as he petted the bound dog on the head.

Muzzle let out a happy whine as he let Roger scratch him behind the ears. The wolf/tiger smiled at the Rottweiler for a moment before looking back at Sandy.

"So have you figured out what your powers are yet?" asked Roger curiously.

"Sure have mate," replied Sandy with a wink before she turned to look at Tom. "Take a gander at this."

Roger watched Sandy for a moment and saw her eyes glowing white. He then tuned his head towards Tom and saw a clone of himself standing in front of his older brother. Roger bit the bottom of his lip as he tried to hold back a laugh that threatened to emerge from his throat. Tom was looking at the clone of his little brother in bewilderment before he got a cocky look on his face.

"So, you came to fight me over being leader huh?" scoffed the 14 year old as he glared at the clone before him. "I bet I can beat you with my eyes closed if I wanted to, but I'm just going to settle it the old fashioned way!"

Tom then ran at the clone before throwing his fist forward to punch his brother, but what happened next made the real Roger burst out laughing along with the other Road Rovers who were in the room. Tom's fist instantly went right through the clone along with the rest of his body as the 14 year old fell to the ground with a thud. Tom slowly sat up on the floor as he turned to look at the clone of his brother in confusion.

"Okay…now that was not what I was expecting," stated Tom as he looked at the clone of his brother before the Roger clone disappeared in front of the 14 year old.

Nanuq and Simba were laughing their heads off like a couple of hyenas as they fell to the floor in a heap.

"Oh man, that was rich!" exclaimed Simba as he sat up on his right elbow while holding his head with his left hand.

"You said it, buddy!" said Nanuq as he lied on his stomach while holding himself up on his elbows. "That has got to be the most hilarious thing that I've ever seen all day today!"

Akane and Alexander were laughing along with Exile and Shag, who had witnessed Tom falling for Sandy's trick. Colleen, Hunter, Blitz and Night-Star where also laughing at Tom as the four Road Rovers stood off to the side of the gym with Colt standing with them. The golden retriever had watched the scene unfold before him with an amused smirk on his face for Colt had easily seen that the clone of Roger was just an illusion created by the she-dingo's powers. The golden retriever walked over to Tom and helped him up to his feet again.

"Where did that no-good brother of mine go?" asked Tom as he looked around in confusion before turning to look at Colt for answers.

"That was just an illusion of your brother amigo," replied Colt as he waved his hand left to right.

"An illusion!" exclaimed Tom in anger before he looked around the room in fury. "Alright, who's the wise guy that did this to me?"

Colt calmly pointed behind the Beauceron and the 14 quickly turned around to see where the golden retriever was pointing. Tom saw his real brother and Sandy laughing together with Muzzle snickering along with them. The 14 year old began to feel his blood boil to the point where it felt like it was on fire before he began to stomp his way towards Sandy, Roger and Muzzle. Roger noticed his brother coming before he quickly warned the two Road Rovers about Tom's approach. The three Road Rovers quickly high tailed it out of there with Roger pushing Muzzle's cart.

"Time to make like a banana and split!" exclaimed Roger to his two Road Rover friends as he ran.

"I have to agree with you there mate!" agreed Sandy with a nod of her head.

"You get back here you three!" shouted Tom as he began to chase Sandy, Roger and Muzzle around the gym. "When I get my hands on you three then you're going to wish you hadn't been born!"

"Hey, come on little bloke, can't you take a little joke?" laughed Sandy with a smirk on her face.

Hunter and the other Road Rovers watched as Tom chased Roger, Muzzle and Sandy around the gym in amusement before the trio quickly ran towards them. The three Road Rovers hid behind one of the Road Rovers with Tom stopping in front of the group before he growled at the older team members.

"Stand aside you guys, those three are going to get what they deserve!" growled Tom as he shook his fist at the Road Rovers.

"Whoa, easy there Tom," chuckled Hunter as he held his hands up in defense. "Sandy, Roger and Muzzle were just having a bit of fun."

"Well it wasn't funny," grumbled Tom as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Those three have hurt my pride."

Roger poked out from behind Hunter with a smile on his face: "Come on bro, it was only a little joke."

"I'll give you a joke," growled Tom as he glared at Roger.

Sandy poked out from behind Colleen as she let out a sigh before coming out of hiding.

"I'm sorry Tom it was my fault, I'd didn't mean to hurt your pride." Sandy apologized. "I was just testing out my new power, that's all."

"Well make sure you don't do it again, or else!" threatened Tom as he pounded his fist into the palm of his hand.

"Hey, don't go threatening Sandy like that!" exclaimed Nanuq as he stood up for the female dingo. "She didn't do anything wrong!"

"You wanna take her place, dog-breath?" questioned Tom as he glared into Nanuq's eyes.

Roger saw that this was going to become an argument and quickly stepped in to separate the two.

"Hey, hey, whoa!" exclaimed Roger as he pushed Nanuq and Tom away from each other. "Let's just cool our jets here, okay?"

"That wouldn't be a problem," muttered Nanuq as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I know when you keep my cool, while hothead here always blows his top over the simplest of things."

"What was that!" barked Tom as he balled his hands into fists.

"See what I mean?" stated Nanuq as he turned to face the Road Rovers.

"Alright you two, that's enough!" ordered Roger as he glared at Tom and Nanuq in displeasure. "We've already had a rumble in here yesterday and I don't want another one! Understood?"

Tom only let out a huff before he walked off with Colt following after him while Nanuq glared after the 14 year old and the golden retriever. The malamute let out a sigh as his shoulders slumped in exhaustion while Roger looked at Nanuq with a gentle frown on his face.

"Sorry Roger," said the malamute as he looked at tiger/wolf. "I just do like people threatening other people over something as harmless as a joke."

"That's alright," reassured Roger as he placed a hand on Nanuq's shoulder. "Just make sure you keep your cool; I don't want any more fighting between team members, alright?"

Nanuq smiled as he nodded his head at Roger. The tiger/wolf smiled back at the malamute before turning back to his team members.

"I think that's enough training for one day," began Roger as he stood in front of the Road Rovers. "Hunter, why don't you and the others go to the rec-room while my team and I go to the beach?"

"Okay," replied Hunter in understanding for he knew that Roger wanted to talk to his team alone. "We'll catch you kids later."

"See ya," said Roger before he began to walk away from the older Road Rovers with his K9 team members following after him.

Sandy watched the five Road Rover children exit the gym before turning to look at the older Road Rovers.

"Do you think those kids will be okay by themselves?" asked the Dingo in a worried voice.

"Don't worry Sandy, Road Rover HQ is one of the safest places to be in," reassured Hunter as he clapped a hand on the Dingo's shoulder.

"Yah, and besides if any enemies ever come here to hurt those kids, then I'll biting them in the tooshie," stated Blitz while bearing his fangs in the process.

"Don't be a weird boy," said Exile as he pushed the Doberman in the shoulder.

Sandy let out a chuckle before she followed after the other Road Rovers to the rec-room while pushing Muzzle's cart with her.

The beach

Roger and the other kids were sitting on the sand of the beach as the tiger/wolf began to talk to his team members.

"Okay guys, the reason why I brought you here is because I want to discuss about our two teammates. And you already know who I am talking about."

"Yeah, the trouble twins that go by the names Colt and Tom," stepped in Nanuq with a growl.

"If this meeting is about them then I say we throw them off the team right now!" exclaimed Simba in agreement as he jabbed his right thumb over his shoulder to indicate his point.

"That's was I'm think to, but we also have to make this decision carefully," said Roger. "For Colt's and Tom's powers could be of use to us if we're ever in a jam. Like Colt's stealth and computer hacking skills can really help us if we ever need to enter a well guarded base with a high-tech security system. And Tom's strength can also get us out of a tight pinch if we're ever faced up against an opponent that's stronger than all of us put together."

"Roger does have a point you guys," stepped in Akane as she took up Roger's side. "We do need their help if we're ever in a tight pinch."

"Well yeah," muttered Nanuq as he scratched behind his head. "But with the way those two have been acting around us lately I can't see how Tom and Colt could help us if they won't cooperate within our group."

"Not to mention that Mr. Angry Mic-Angry always thinks of himself all the time, along with Colt who is more of a golden stealer than a golden retriever." Alexander added as he crossed his arms over his chest with a deep frown on his face.

Everyone, including Roger, nodded their heads in agreement before they all went into deep thinking as they tried to contemplate on what they should do with their two team members. It was true that Tom and Colt could be useful on their future missions, but when it comes to group training those two can be a pain in the butt. Roger crossed his arms over his chest as he bowed his head in thought before letting out a sigh.

"The only way we can decide this problem is if we take it up to a vote," stated Roger to his teammates.

The others looked at their leader in surprise as the tiger/wolf stood up from the ground: "But for this vote to work we'd need the other rovers support on this."

"Yeah," agreed Nanuq with a nod of his head. "Besides, it wouldn't be fair that we five kids are the only ones who have to vote on this problem by ourselves."

"Then what are we waiting for!" exclaimed Simba as he jumped up from the sand. "Let's go gather up the other Road Rovers and see what they think about this situation!"

Alexander and Akane nodded their heads as they, Roger and Nanuq stood up from the sand before they started to make their way towards Road Rover HQ again. They only got to the steps when the familiar howling of dogs sounded within their ears.

"Sounds like the bad guys are causing trouble again," stated Nanuq as he looked at his team members.

"Then let's hightail it to the briefing room and see what's up!" exclaimed Roger as he and his teammate ran into HQ to join up with the older Road Rovers.

Roger and his four teammates quickly came into the briefing room as the Road Rovers, along with Tom and Colt, were standing in front of Master with the monitor screen standing behind them.

"Road Rovers, we have a crisis on our hands," started Master as he faced the K9 hero's and trainees in front of him. "It seems that Storm as broken out of prison once again."

"You mean the lunatic soldier that wants to cause war or blow things up in the world?" asked Roger as he scratched the back of his head in thought.

"That's right," answered Hunter with a nod. "Storm has this revenge streak because he made a mistake to fire on the enemy when he was not given an order by his captain in the army."

"Whoa, he's popped off just because of one little mistake?" questioned Simba with a frown on his face.

"I'm guessing that this guy is the sensitive type," guessed Nanuq with a shrugged of his shoulders.

"Who cares about what type of person this guy is!" exclaimed Tom with a smirk. "Let's just catch this guy and take him down!"

"Easy bro, we can't just go jumping into action just yet," said Roger as he looked at Tom with a frown on his face. "We might have been training by ourselves for over a week but we haven't been working as a team lately. So we still need to work on our team work abilities."

"Or maybe you should just shut up and just let me take over as leader again!" growled Tom as he glared at Roger in displeasure.

Roger's eyes flashed dangerously at Tom when he heard what his brother had just said to him before the tiger/wolf started to snarl.

"Will you give it a rest with the leadership thing!" exclaimed Roger in exasperation. "This isn't about who's a better leader, it's about working with your team members and showing respect with each other. But so far you and Colt haven't been respecting any of us and you haven't been working with us, only using us to your own advantage!"

"Roger's right Tom," stepped in Hunter. "You two haven't really working well with your team members, so it best that you kids sit out of this one and let the prowess handles this one."

"Yah, for we Road Rovers are more experienced in this line of this work," boasted Blitz. "And you kids aren't even at our level yet."

"Then what about Night-star and Sandy here?" questioned Tom in anger. "Their new on this team and they haven't been training for as long as we have."

"We aren't really going with the Road Rovers on this mission," said Night-star calmly. "For our duty is to look after you while supervising your training."

"He's right bloke," stepped in Sandy as she placed her hands on her hips. "You kids need more training and that means you have to practice until you drop."

"And what if we don't want to practice?" countered Tom with a glare.

"Let's just say that you don't want to know," replied Sandy coolly before she did the one thing that a parent or sibling would do.

Tom was taken off guard as Sandy started to ruffle the young Beauceron's head as the she dingo smirk down at the K9 mutant before placing her hand back on her hip. Tom glared at Sandy as he growled in displeasure. Roger and the others, not counting Colt, chuckled as they watched Tom trying to fix his hair/fur after what Sandy had done to it. The fur on top of Tom's head was all spiked up which made the 14 year old look silly.

"Great hair du' Tom!" laughed Roger as he pointed a finger at his brother.

Tom glared at his younger brother as he fixed his hair: "Laugh it up comedy artist."

"Okay, okay, break it up," stepped in Hunter with a chuckle. "We got a mission to do here."

"Hunter is right Road Rovers," spoke Master before he continued. "Now, Storm's location is in an old abandoned military base in the jungles of Brazil. Storm and his men have taken over the base with active missiles at his disposal. Your mission Road Rovers is to stop Storm from activating those missiles and firing them on the militaries of the USA."

"You got it Master!" exclaimed Hunter before turning to his teammates. "Let's hit the Road Rovers!"

The original Road Rovers let out a howl before they ran out of the briefing room to the hanger. Roger quickly used his super speed to catch up to Hunter before stopping the leader by grabbing his arm. Hunter stopped to look back at Roger in surprise.

"What is it buddy?" asked Hunter as he looked down at the wolf/tiger that hung on to his arm.

"Nothing, but…after you get back can you and your team help me and my team with voting on what we should do with Tom and Colt?" asked Roger as he let go of the older leader's arm.

Hunter smiled down at Roger before ruffling the younger rover's head: "Sure thing pal, just make sure that you and the other's stay out of trouble while we're gone."

"We'll try," chuckled Roger with a smile. "Just watch your back out there, okay?"

"You got it," replied Hunter with a thumb's up before he ran off to catch up with his team members.

Roger smiled as he watched Hunter and his team members disappear around the corner before walking back to the briefing room where his other team members were waiting for him. Akane and Nanuq were the first ones to greet Roger before they and the rest of their team members went to the training room with Sandy and Night-star, but what the trainee Road Rovers didn't know was that they were short on two team members…again.

Roger, his team members and the older Road Rovers were walking down the hallways while making a few conversations here and there, but Roger quickly stopped when he noticed two of his team members missing.

"Hey wait a minute, wait a minute," halted Roger as he stopped his group. "Where are Tom and Colt?"

"I don't know, I thought that they were right behind us," answered Nanuq as he looked behind to see that Tom and Colt weren't with them.

That's when realization dawned on the group as they all let out a collective groan with Night-star rolling his eyes and Sandy letting out a sigh.

"Not again!" echoed the group before they ran back to the briefing room.

"MASTER!" shouted Roger as he and the group came to a screeching halt as the human looked towards them in surprise. "We've got a problem."

"Tom and Colt are missing again," stepped in Akane with a panicked look on her face.

Master let out a sigh: "Not again."

"That's what we'd said," muttered Nanuq as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I think those two might have snuck along with the Road Rovers again," stepped in Roger. "You have to call Hunter and the others back, now!"

"I'm afraid that I can't," Master sadly replied. "But the Road Rovers are already headed towards the Brazilian Rain Forest."

"That's just great!" grumbled Simba in an annoyance. "Those two just can't stay out of trouble when it comes to fighting and tracking down criminals, can they?"

"Those two are going to be the death of us," voiced Alexander with a sigh.

"We got to go after them," stated Roger. "There's no telling what trouble those two are getting into."

"Come on," said Night-star to the younger rovers. "We'll take the Jet Rover."

"Spot on mate!" exclaimed Sandy with a smile. "That way we'll be able to catch up with the other Road Rovers in no time."

"Then let's get going!" ordered Roger to his teammates. "Or, in the famous words of Hunter, let's hit the Road Rovers!"

"Yes sir!" shouted Roger's group before they followed after the tiger/wolf to the hanger.

Brazilian Rainforest

The Road Rovers had taken the Sky Rover for their mission and they were now flying over the Rainforest with some unknown passengers coming along for the ride. At the very back of the Sky Rover, Tom and Colt were sitting as quietly as they could while they waited for the aircraft to land.

"I hope this stupid machine lands soon, because I am getting tired of just sitting here all day," grumbled Tom angrily as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well it was your idea to stowaway on the Sky Rover in the first place," whispered Colt as he calmly sat on the floor with his hands behind his head.

Tom glared at the street Mexican before speaking a question that came popping into his head: "You know there's one thing I don't get, one minute you're on my side and then the next you're on my brother's side. What's up with that man?"

Colt just gave a shrug of his shoulders before he answered Tom's question.

"I don't really care who I follow," replied Colt. "All I care about is me, myself and I. Nobody and no one else matters to me."

"Then why are you coming along with me on this mission?" questioned Tom suspiciously.

"I'm just interested on how far you'll actually get in completing this mission that we are not invited to participate in." Colt answered before letting out a light yawn. "Wake me up when we've landed."

Tom frowned at Colt as one word came out of his mouth: "Weasel."

Roger and his team

Roger sat near the window in the jet rover as he stared out at the open sky before him. His mind wondered to his brother and Colt as he thought about why they snuck off from their team members and wondered if they were alright.

"Roger?" a voice suddenly cut into the tiger/wolf's thoughts.

Roger turned his head to the side and saw Akane standing in front of him with a worried look on her face.

"Are you alright?" asked Akane as she sat down in the seat next to Roger.

Roger let out a sigh before shaking his head at her: "I'm really worried about Tom and Colt. They shouldn't be running off like this without realizing the danger that they are putting themselves in."

"I'm sure that they're alright," reassured Akane with an encouraging smile.

"Even when you say that I still worry," stated Roger before turning his gaze back out the window. "Tom is known to be a reckless fool, because he always jumps head first into things without realizing the consequences. I just wish that he would see reason for once and not think for himself all the time. And then there's Colt. We haven't known him for very long, only that he lives in Mexico and that he's a street kid that steals stuff just to survive. I can't help but worry that if I don't live up to expectations of being leader then I might wind up putting my teammates in danger."

Roger let out a sigh before continuing: "Akane, I'm not sure that I'm qualified to be a leader. I mean, look at all of the trouble that's been going on within this team."

"Roger, it's not your fault," reassured Akane as she placed her hand on top of his which made the tiger/wolf turn to look at her again. "You're doing everything you can to keep this team from falling apart."

"She's right Roger," spoke Nanuq as he stood up from his seat as he sat across from Roger and Akane. "I mean, you're the best leader that we have on the team, even better than Tom."

Roger looked at Nanuq and Akane for a moment before letting out a sigh. He then gave the two a small smile before Sandy began to speak from up front beside Night-star, who was the one that was flying the aircraft.

"We're right over the Brazilian Rainforest mates!" exclaimed Sandy with a smile on her face. "We'll be landing in a minute."

"But there's no runway," stated Simba as he looked out at the front window of jet.

"We'll just have to look for a clearing," said Night-star as he looked over at the African wild dog. "But it might take us hours to find one."

"We have no choice," stepped in Roger as he stood up from his chair and walked over to the front before standing beside Night-star. "Try and see if you can find a clearing with the radar, Akane we might need your eyesight up front here."

"You got it Roger," replied Akane as she quickly stood up from her chair and came over to the front of the jet.

Akane's eyes began to glow a bright white as she stared intently out of the front window. Roger looked down at the radar screen as one thought came into mind. Find his two teammates, bring them back to HQ in one piece and then give them a serious scolding that they will never forget.

In the jungle

Tom and Colt quietly followed behind Hunter and the Road Rovers with the help of Colt's invisibility power. The Road Rovers were tracking through the jungle while making sure not to stray off the path with the help of their tracking system.

"We should be getting closer to Storm and his base," stated Hunter as he led his group through the jungle.

The group was quiet as they walked through the jungle with their uninvited guests following behind them. The Road Rovers continued their trek through the jungle before Hunter called them to a halt. The leader raised his finger to his muzzle and signaled his team members to be quiet before he slowly moved aside a few branches under the bush that they were hiding behind. Hunter saw the old Brazilian base standing before him.

The base was as large as a 10 story building and was 20 feet long in diameter. The walls of the base were a stone grey so it was pretty easy to spot the base from a close range, but it wasn't easy to spot it through a thick canopy of jungle leaves that almost hid it within plain sight. A few men were standing guard at the front entrance of the door while 12 more men patrolled the front wall of the base.

"Whoa, looks like Storm has really gone out of his way in hiring these many men to do his bidding," stated Hunter as he and his team examined the base in front of them.

"How do you suppose that we should get in comrade?" asked Exile curiously.

Hunter thought for a moment as he looked at the situation that he and his team were in before he answered Exile's question.

"We'll have to go around the base to find the safest way to get inside," started Hunter as he looked at his team members. "That means we'll have to split into two groups. Colleen, Shag, you guys will come with me so that we can search the left side of the base. Exile, Blitz, and Muzzle, you take the right side of the base. Let's all make sure that we are in radio contact with each other. And let's also try to keep our heads low, we don't want any of Storm's men spotting us."

The Road Rovers nodded their heads at their leader before they all split up to see if they could find a way into the base. Colt and Tom became visible once the Road Rovers had disappeared into the underbrush of the jungle.

"Just like a coward," scoffed Tom with a smirk on his muzzled, "Always going on the defense. Sneaking into that base will be a cinch for us, right Colt?"

Colt only nodded his head as he looked at the guards that were standing guard at the front doors of the base. Colt had to admit that this base was in high security standards, but for him this will just be another field test for his computer hacking skills.

"We'd better get moving before the Road Rovers reach the prize ahead of us," stated Colt at he looked back at the 14 year old behind him.

Tom smirked before he placed his left hand on top of Colt's shoulder. The golden retriever activated his invisibility power as he and Tom disappeared before they made their way towards the front door of the base.

With Roger's group

Roger and his team members were walking through the jungle with Nanuq taking point ahead of them as the malamute used his nose to locate the Road Rovers and their missing team members. Roger and the gang had found a giant clearing that was ten miles away from Storm's base so that gave them the advantage of sneaking towards the base undetected.

Nanuq sniffed the air a few times before looking over at his team members: "Hunter and the others went this way you guys."

"Good work Nanuq," said Roger as he walked up behind his teammate before looking at his group. "Let's move out dogs, we got some Road Rover's to find and stay close together. We don't know what kind of dangers there are in this jungle."

The group was soon moving through the jungle with Roger and Nanuq taking up the lead. Akane, Simba and Alexander followed in the middle of the group while Sandy and Night-star took up the rear.

"Crikey, this place almost looks like the jungles back in Australia," stated Sandy as she gently brushed aside a large leaf that got in her way.

"There are some places on earth that do remind people of their homeland," spoke Simba as he looked over his shoulder to talk with the Dingo. "And I have to admit that this place also reminds me of my home back in Africa."

Roger turned his head to look at his team members with a smile before turning to face forward again, but quickly stopped when he suddenly sensed something up ahead of them.

"Hold up gang," spoke Roger as he stopped his team members.

"What is it Roger?" asked Akane as she stood beside the leader of the group.

"I don't know," answered Roger as he took a cautious step forward. "But I have a funny feeling that we are being watched."

Nanuq started to sniff the air with his nose as he picked up an unusual smell within the air.

"Hmm…I'm picking up an odd odder within the air," said Nanuq as he scrunched his nose up in disgust.

"Simba, what can you hear with those ears of yours?" asked Roger as he looked over at the African wild dog behind him.

"Give me a sec," answered Simba as he perks up his ears to have a better listen at what might be ahead of the group.

Roger and the others were quiet as they let Simba listen for the sound that was up ahead of them. Simba's ear's caught the sound of birds chirping or squawking for a few moments before he caught the sound of heavy breathing with the occasional snarling that he was all too familiar with.

"Not to alarm you guys, but I think that we might be facing up against a very large feline that has an appetite for dogs right about now," warned Simba as he pointed to a bush on their far right.

The bushes rustled as if on cue before a large jaguar suddenly jumped out from the underbrush.

"Scatter!" shouted Roger as he and his team members got out of the way of the giant cat that almost pounced on them.

The jaguar let out a snarl as it roared at the trainee Road Rovers. Nanuq, Roger, Akane and Simba stood on the left side of jaguar while Night-star, Sandy and Alexander stood on the right.

"Whoa, now that is one big house cat!" exclaimed Nanuq as he looked at the spotted cat in front of him.

"That's no ordinary house cat Nanuq," started Roger as he glared at the jaguar. "That's a jungle cat called a jaguar and a pretty hungry one at that."

"Ugh, we don't have time to deal with this over grown pussycat!" barked Simba in frustration as he stomped his foot on to the group.

The jaguar snarled once again as it pounced towards Roger and his group. Roger and his teammates quickly dodged to the side to avoid the cat's teeth and claws, but Akane suddenly tripped on a stone in the process. The jaguar turned its sights on Akane as it got into a pouncing position before it leaped into the air, but it never got a chance to land on Akane for in that moment a red and silver streak shot out of nowhere. The blur quickly grabbed Akane before the jaguar could pin the Hovawart to the ground. The blur skidded to a stop as it revealed itself to be Roger with Akane in his arms with the Japanese girl's arms wrapped around his neck.

"Are you alright Akane?" asked Roger to his team member.

Akane looked up at Roger as a blush came onto her face, but luckily her black fur hid it from view.

Akane nodded her at the young leader that held her: "Arigato gozaimasu."

The jaguar let out a roar in frustration as it turned to pounce on Roger and Akane, but was quickly frozen in place by Nanuq's ice breath.

"Why don't you be a nice cool cat and chill out for a moment," said Nanuq as he walked up to the frozen ice statue of the jaguar and stood in front of it with a smirk on his face.

"Good work Nanuq," praised Roger as he set Akane back down on to her feet.

"That's a bonnie ice sculpture if I do say so myself," commented Alexander as he, Night-star and Sandy walked up to join the group.

"Alright team, let's get moving," stepped in Roger as he began to lead his group onwards through the jungle. "We've got a mission to complete."

"Sorry for the cold shoulder mate," apologized Sandy to the ice sculpture jaguar. "But we've got some ankle bitters to look for."

The group stated to head out with Nanuq staying behind to look at his handy work for a few more minutes.

"Don't worry," Nanuq reassured the ice statue. "You'll thaw out in a few hours."

"Nanuq!" called Roger from up ahead. "Don't lag behind!"

"Coming!" exclaimed the malamute before he waved a hand at the Jaguar. "See you later kitty-cat!"

Nanuq soon ran off to catch up with his team members who were all waiting for him.

Storm's base: Monitor room

A soldier was sitting at the camera monitors as he stared at the screens in boredom before he let out a yawn.

"This is boring," muttered the soldier as he glared at the several camera screens in front of him. "Why do I have to be the one to take watch?"

The soldier began to doze off when he suddenly heard the creaking of a monitor's door being opened behind him. The soldier quickly shot up from his seat as he pulled out his M1911 pistol from its holder on his belt. The man pointed it towards the door as he prepared to fire at the intruder that had entered the room, but was surprised to see no one there.

The door was wide open in front of the soldier as it showed the hallway outside the monitor room. The soldier blinked in confusion as he slowly made his way towards the door with his gun still in hand.

"Hello!" shouted the man as he came to the door. "Is anyone there?"

There was no answer as the soldier looked down the hallway before shrugging. He turned to go back into the monitor room, but the soldier barely took a step forward before something slammed into the side of his neck. The solider slowly sank down to the ground as some unknown force lowered him to the metal floor before Colt and Tom appeared within the room.

"That was too easy," snorted Tom as he dusted the invisible dirt from his hands.

Colt walked up to the camera monitors as he began to type through the security system to see if he could find their target. It took a minute for the retriever to bypass the security system before the image of Storm appeared on one of the monitors.

"Bingo," muttered Colt as Tom walked up beside him. "He's in the command room with three of his men."

"Good," said Tom with a smirk. "Now all we have to do is find that guy and knock his lights out."

Colt nodded his head as he looked at the screen that showed Storm, but his gaze was suddenly averted when he noticed movement in the second camera monitor on his left. The camera showed an air vent grill being opened before a small figure slowly popped its head out from the vent.

It was a big surprise for Colt when he saw that the figure was actually a little girl. The girl had pale skin, long blonde hair that was braided and dark brown eyes. She was wearing a tattered light blue dress and her feet were bare. The girl looked to be around 5 or 6 years old.

Colt stared at the screen for a few minutes with a confused look on his face. What was a girl doing here in the base?

"Hey come on Colt," spoke Tom as he shoved the retriever in the shoulder. "Quit spacing out, we've got work to do!"

"Uh…right," said Colt as he quickly snapped out of his daze before following Tom out the door.

Colt stopped for a moment as he turned to look back at the screen that the girl had just been on before he quickly chased after the 14 year old.

Outside the base

Roger slowly pulled apart the branches and leaves of the underbrush that he and his team were hiding in and saw the guards standing in front of the doors that led inside the building.

"This Storm guy isn't taking any chances," whispered Nanuq as Roger let the branches settle back into their original position once again.

"Well after how many times the Road Rovers had foiled his plans then it's no wonder that this guy would hire men to do his bidding along with a high tech security system to boot." Simba pointed out to his malamute friend.

"What do we do?" asked Alexander curiously.

"We'll have to split up like Hunter and the rest of the Road Rovers," replied Roger as he looked at his team members. "So…Night-star, Nanuq, Simba and Sandy you go after Blitz and Exile's group. Akane and Alexander, your with me also I think its best that we call ourselves by code names so that Storm won't recognize us if he ever got the chance to see us in our human forms."

Nanuq and the others nodded at their leader before Night-star suddenly spoke up: "Let's also make sure that we are in radio contact with each other."

"That's what I'm thinking as well," said Roger with a smile. "But it's good to have someone remind someone else once in a while."

Night-star smiled back at Roger before he led his group his group to the right side of the base while Roger led his group to the left side of the building while keeping out of sight from the guards.

Back inside the base

Tom and Colt slowly made their way down the hallway while avoiding the soldiers that were patrolling them. One guard passed by the two that hid behind the corner before Tom slowly poked his head around to see if the coast was clear before looking at Colt.

"You know sneaking around would be a lot easier if we use your invisibility power," grumbled Tom with a frown.

"And where would the fun be in that?" questioned Colt as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Tom rolled his eyes at the golden retriever before he took off down the corridor with Colt following right behind him. The two kept running down the hall before they quickly stopped and hid around another corner. The two of them slowly poked their heads around the corner and saw two guards standing in front of a large metal door.

"I think we found the jackpot," whispered Tom with a smirk on his face.

Colt frowned as he glanced at the metal door before he looked at Tom: "I don't think that leads to the command chamber."

"What do you mean?" asked Tom with a frown.

Colt didn't reply to Tom's question as he quickly turned himself invisible in front of Tom.

"Hey!" hissed Tom as he tried to look around for the Mexican retriever.

Colt slowly walked towards the metal door before placing his ear against the door as he began to hear voices from behind it.

"What do you think they want with us?" asked a female voice.

"I don't know," replied a male voice. "All I know is that we have to find a way to get out of here, no matter what."

Colt let out a sigh of disappointment before he made his way back to Tom and became visible again.

"That isn't Storm's room," confirmed Colt with a shake of his head.

Tom let out a frustrating sigh as he turned to walk back the way they came: "We'll just have to backtrack then."

"But what about the people who are trapped behind that door?" questioned Colt curiously, "Shouldn't we help them?"

"Just leave them there," said Tom as he glared at Colt. "We don't have time to help weaklings like those hostages."

Colt looked at Tom as he stood there shocked at what the 14 year old had just said. Even he, the Mexican thief, wasn't that cold towards people who needed help, but he was really that concerned about people's safety either. Tom began to walk back down the hall that he and Colt had come down from while the golden retriever stood standing for a moment in hesitation as he stared at the retreating form of the 14 year old who claims to be his leader. Colt turned to look back at the metal door again before he ran to catch up with Tom.

Roger's group

(Just to let you all know, Roger and his team member's names are going to be changed into their code names whenever they go on future missions: WH).

Bolt, Taka and Wolfgang quietly made their way around the side of the base as they searched for a way in. The trio soon came to a ladder that led up to the air vents with a regular size door standing beside the ladder.

"Looks like we just found our way in guys," stated Bolt to his teammates. "But the question is which route did our Road Rovers friends choose to take."

"My guess is that Hunter and his team went through the side door," guessed Wolfgang as he pointed towards the door. "Because the air vents aren't really that big for them to crawl through."

"But it is big enough for a child to crawl through," stepped in Taka as she knelt down to the ground after she spotted small foot prints in the dirt.

Bolt knelt down to get a better look as well. He slowly traced his fingers over one of the foot prints and saw that the feet were bare which means that the child wasn't wearing any shoes.

"Oh man," groaned Bolt as he stood up from the ground. "This mission is starting to become more complicated by the second."

"But what's a little kid doing here in a dangerous place like this?" asked Wolfgang in a confused voice.

"One guess," started Bolt as he placed his hands on his waist. "It could be that her family is being held hostage by within this base."

"Then we got to find this kid and make sure that they don't get themselves into trouble." Wolfgang stated as a look of determination came over his face.

"We will," reassured Bolt to his team member. "I'll contact the others and tell them the situation."

Bolt quickly pressed his dog-tag as he tried to make contact with one of his teammates.

"Niyol, Naasir, can any of you guys hear me?"

"_**Yeah we here you Bolt,**_" replied Niyol on the other end of the communicator. "_**What's going on?**_"

"We've got a slight change in plan," replied Bolt to his teammate. "It seems that we aren't the only ones looking for someone. We've spotted some footprints here on our end of the base and they looked to be the size of a small child. So I want you and your group to keep an eye out for a small child wondering around the base. And if you find the child I want you to protect them until you or my group has found the kid's parents."

"_**You got it leader!**_" exclaimed Niyol on the other end. "_**We'll do our best in finding this kid while keeping an eye out for the troublesome duo.**_"

"Be careful," said Bolt before he closed off his communication then turned to his teammates. "Let's get going team."

Bolt, Wolfgang and Taka took the side door as they entered the base in search of not only their friends, but also a child that had snuck into the base in their search for their family members.

To be continued

Looks like this chapter is going to be a cliffhanger, I hope you enjoy it.

White Hunter, howling out to you and the spirits!


	11. Part 2

Living a Different life

I do not own Road Rover characters, only the characters that I made up within my story.

The difficult decision and the mistake that nearly killed Colt: Part 2

Colt and Tom were walking down an empty hallway that was unoccupied by guards which made the Mexican golden retriever a little uneasy.

"I don't like the looks of this Tom," spoke Colt after a minute of silence.

"Don't be such a wimp Colt," growled Tom as he glared at the golden retriever that was walking behind him. "This is just our lucky day that we found a hall that will lead us to Storm's command center. And once we find that lunatic then it will be lights out for him."

"But something doesn't feel right Tom," argued Colt as he glared up at his oldest team member. "There should be guards in this part of the building as well, we both saw it on the security cameras."

Tom only growled at Colt before turning his head away from the golden retriever. Colt began to grow irritated with Tom's attitude right then and there. This 14 year old was starting to get underneath the Mexican boy's skin. Colt quickly intercepted Tom by jumping right into the older boy's path to stop him from walking any further.

"Tom, listen to me!" barked Colt as he glared up into Tom's face. "Walking into danger like this will only wind up getting us both killed! You have to think about the situation first before jumping into danger!"

Tom only glared down at Colt before he said the one thing that made the retriever flinch back in surprise: "You know what Mexican boy; you're starting to sound too much like my brother. So I suggest that you keep your mouth shut or I'll shut it for you."

Colt was suddenly shoved aside by Tom as the 14 year old continued his trek down the hallway again. Colt began to feel his temper rise to the boiling point where he could just walk up behind Tom and punch him in the back of the head.

'_That idiotic moron, he doesn't realize that this could be a trap that Storm had set up for the Road Rover!_' shouted Colt within his head as he clenched his right hand into a fist.

He soon ran after Tom in an attempt to keep the hot headed 14 year old out of trouble.

Bolt and his group

Bolt and his group quickly hid around the corner of the hall as they watched a couple of guards walk past their hiding spot.

"Man, this is really frustrating," muttered Wolfgang as he and Taka pressed up against the wall of the hallway that they were in.

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting that there would be so many guards roaming around this place," voiced Taka in agreement as she looked at the grey wolf that stood beside her.

"Then we'd better watch our step you guys," whispered Bolt as he stuck his head a little ways out around the corner to see if the coast was clear.

When he saw that it was he singled for his two teammates to follow behind him. The trio walked through the halls slowly while making sure that they didn't get caught by the guards that were patrolling the building. They soon came to a stop near another corner as they began to hear voices from up ahead of them. Bolt singled for his two teammates to be quiet before he slowly poked his head out around the corner and saw two guards surrounding a small girl who looked to be about 5 or 6 years old. The girl was struggling against one of the guards who had a tight grip on her right wrist before she let out a whimper of pain when the guard suddenly gave a hard yank on her arm.

"Well, well, look at what we have here," said the first guard that was holding the girl in his iron grip.

"It must be that professor's little brat we've heard so much about," stated the second guard with a smirk.

"Then it's our lucky day," chuckled the first guard as he looked up at his partner. "The boss will pay us big bucks if we give him this girl."

Bolt softly growl before he turned to face his two teammates and began to make a few hand signs in front of them. Taka and Wolfgang nodded their heads at their leader when they understood what he wanted them to do.

The girl continued to struggle as she tried to get out of her capture's grasp while the second guard advanced towards her, but he was suddenly stopped in his tracks by a voice shouting at him from behind.

"Hey, why don't you guys pick on somebody your own size?"

The guards quickly turned their attention towards the source of the voice and saw Bolt standing in front of them with the tiger/wolf's two teammates standing on either side him.

"Well, well, look at what we have here," said the first guard with a chuckle. "Road Rover pups."

"Since when have the older Road Rovers sent puppies to do their dirty work?" the second guard joked.

"You shouldn't be making fun of people like that choob," growled Wolfgang as he raised his fists up in front of him, "Because you might just regret it in the end."

"Besides, haven't you ever heard the saying 'Never judge a book by its cover'?" stepped in Bolt as he glared at the two older men in front of him.

"Ha, like we're scared of a couple of runts," boasted the second guard with a smirk as he began to pull out his ASP handgun. "But maybe to be on the safe side, I think that we should take care of you three right now."

"I don't think so," said Bolt before he shot forward with his super speed.

The tiger/wolf quickly disarmed the man by grabbing the gun right out of the guard's hand. He then grabbed the girl and carried her away from the first guard before the adult even knew what was happening.

"What the…" the second guard started but was quickly cut off by Taka leaping towards him as the hovawart delivered a powerful blade kick to his stomach.

Wolfgang quickly ran towards the first guard while the adult was distracted. The grey wolf struck the man in the gut with his right fist before delivering a roundhouse kick to the guard's face with the left heel of his foot. The guard let out a grunt before he fell to the ground unconscious after he felt the full force of Wolfgang's blows. Taka preformed a tornado kick to the guard's head as she knocked him out cold as well. Bolt was kneeing on the floor as he held the little human girl in his right arm while holding the gun in his left hand before throwing it up into the air.

"Taka!" shouted Bolt to his teammate.

"On it!" replied Taka before she fired her laser beam eyes at the gun.

The ASP handgun blew up in midair as its small parts fell harmlessly to the ground. Wolfgang looked down at the two guards that he and Taka had taken out before a smile spread out across his muzzle.

"As Exile would say: I love being a Road Rover!" exclaimed the grey wolf.

Taka and Bolt only smiled at their friend before the two of them turned their attention onto the little girl as the tiger/wolf slowly pulled his right arm away and let it rest on top of his right leg. The girl stared up at Bolt in shock and amazement before Taka and Wolfgang came to stand beside their leader. The girl began to feel fear grow in her heart for a moment, but it soon disappeared when Taka began to speak to her in a gentle voice.

"Are you alright little one?" asked Taka with a smile.

The little girl slowly nodded her head at the female Road Rover in front of her. Bolt, who was still kneeling on the ground, began to talk to the young girl next.

"What are you doing here in Storm's base?" asked the leader-in-training. "Don't you know that it's dangerous here?"

"I-I'm looking for my daddy," replied the little girl in a small voice. "He was captured by these bad men who want to use him in their evil plan, but I don't know where those bad men are holding him."

Bolt looked at the young human girl for a moment before turning to look at his two teammates. Taka and Wolfgang nodded their heads at Bolt for they knew what the tiger/wolf was thinking of doing. Bolt smiled at his two friends before turning his attention back on the girl again.

"We'll help you in finding your father," said Bolt with a reassuring smile on his face. "After all, my friends and I are looking for two of our teammates."

"Really, you'll help me?" voiced the girl with a hopeful look on her face.

"You bet," answered Bolt with a nod, "But before we do I think introductions are in order. My name is Bolt, a leader-in-training."

"I'm Taka," stepped in the hovawart, "The eyes of the team."

"And my name is Wolfgang lass," finished the grey wolf, "The fighter of the team."

The girl looked at the three Road Rovers for a moment before she opened her mouth to speak: "M-my name I-is Kara, Kara Brimwood."

"Nice to meet you Kara," said Bolt as he held his left hand out towards the girl.

Kara looked at Bolt's hand for a moment before she slowly took hold of it with her left hand. The tiger/wolf's hand slowly closed around the young girl's hand before he gently began to shake it. Kara started to smile as she began to feel comfortable around Bolt and his group. Bolt soon let go of Kara's hand before he stood up from the ground.

"Well, let's get going," stated Bolt as he looked at his teammates for a moment before looking back down at Kara. "Kara, I want you to stay close to either me, Taka or Wolfgang while we're walking around this base, okay?"

Kara nodded at Bolt before the group started their trek down the hall again while making sure to keep a look out for any guards that might cross their path.

With Night-star's group

"Man this place is huge," said Niyol as he and his team members followed Night-star through the halls of the base.

"Right you are mate," spoke Sandy with a nod of her head. "And there's no tellin' where them ankle bitters might be in this 'ere place."

"Hakuna matata my friends, we'll find Tom and Colt before you can say 'Bada-bing'." Naasir said with a smile on his muzzle.

"I highly doubt that we can find them that easy my friend," said Night-star as he turned to look over his shoulder at Naasir who was walking behind him. "This base is large and it's full of twists and turns."

"Not to mention that this base is stack full with guards who want to blow both the Road Rovers' and our heads off," added Niyol to his companions.

"Well I prefer to keep my head on thank you," said Naasir.

"Ditto on that mate," Sandy agreed with a nod of her head.

"Sshh…" hissed Night-Star as he stopped his team for a moment.

The group became still when they suddenly heard the sound of footsteps coming towards them. The group quickly pressed themselves up against the wall as they waited for the unknown strangers to appear before them. They got ready to attack when they saw the shadows of the strangers form against the opposite wall of the next hallway, but Niyol quickly stopped them when he picked up a familiar scent with his nose.

"Hold on a sec," whispered Niyol as he stopped his group from leaping into action.

"What is it Niyol?" asked Night-star as he stared at his friend in confusion.

"This scent," voiced Niyol as his nose started to twitch to confirm his decision. "I'm positive that it's Blitz's, Muzzle's, and Exile's scents."

"You sure?" questioned Sandy as she looked at the malamute in front of her.

Niyol turned to look at Sandy with a smile as he nodded his head at her before he walked forward to meet the three older Road Rovers with the others following right behind him.

With Exile, Blitz and Muzzle

"This is really starting to annoy me," grumbled Blitz as he pushed Muzzle's trolley down the hallway while he followed Exile. "We've been walking around this place for who knows how long and we still haven't found that lunatic anywhere."

"I'll say," said Exile in agreement. "This bad guy's base is like a maze-ski."

Muzzle growled in agreement before he suddenly sensed something up ahead of them and began to bounce around excitedly.

"What is it now Muzzle?" questioned Blitz as he glared at the bound Rottweiler that was bouncing in front of him.

"He seems to be excited about something," stated Exile.

"Like what?" asked Blitz as he scratched the side of his head in confusion.

Blitz's question was soon answered as Niyol suddenly appeared in front of both him, Exile and Muzzle, along with the rest of the malamute's group.

"Comrades!" exclaimed Exile in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Let's just say that two of our teammates had decided to run out on us again," replied Naasir as he answered the husky's question.

"You mean crazy boy and his shadowy comrade are here in base?" questioned Exile.

"I'm afraid so my friend," said Night-star was a sad nod of his head.

"Not again!" whined Blitz as he held his head in frustration.

"That's what we said back at HQ" said Naasir as he looked up at the Doberman before him.

"And not only that mates," stepped in Sandy as she entered the conversation. "But there seems to be a little girl wondering around inside this base as well."

"Yeah, and we've got to find her before Storm's guards do," added Niyol.

"_**You don't have to worry guys, we found her.**_"

"Bolt!" exclaimed Naasir as he and the others heard the tiger/wolf's voice on their com-links.

"You found the kid?" questioned Sandy in relief. "Where was she?"

"_**We found the girl when she had a run in with two of Storm's guards.**_" Bolt replied over the com-link. "_**Apparently Kara, that's the girl's name, decided to sneak into Storm's base because her father and his team members had been captured by Storm and his accomplices.**_"

"But why kidnap the girl's father?" asked Naasir in confusion.

"_**Kara's father is actually a scientist and he was doing a bit of research out here in the Brazilian Rainforest,**_" answered Wolfgang. "_**He and a bunch of his team members were looking for a plant of some kind. But they quickly winded up being kidnapped by Storm and his men. Apparently, Storm wants Kara's father to create some kind of new energy source that could help him in his mad conquest of taking over the world.**_"

"_**But what the power source is, we don't really know,**_" stepped in Taka. "_**All we know is that if we don't find Kara's father or his team members soon then we might all wind up in hot water.**_"

"And not to mention that we still have to find Tom and Colt," added Niyol.

"Oh man, this is just not our day," grumbled Naasir with a growl. "Finding a research team and those two trouble makers is like trying to find a needle in a haystack."

"You said it mate," Sandy spoke with a nod of her head. "Those ankle biters could be anywhere within this 'ere base."

"_**Well if I know Tom, and unfortunately I do, he might try his hand in going after the leader again.**_" Bolt said over the com-link.

"That would mean crazy boy is heading towards the command center," added Exile in a worried voice.

"Oh joy," mumbled Blitz as he slapped his hand over his face. "That kid is going to be the death of us one day."

"_**Not if I can help it!**_" exclaimed Bolt in determination.

"_**You and me both buddy,**_" stepped in the familiar voice of Hunter as he entered the conversation.

"_**Hunter,**_" said Taka in a surprise voice. "_**How long have you been hearing our conversation?**_"

"_**We've been hearing it right from the start Love,**_" answered Colleen. "_**We we're just about to tell the others that we had found the place where Storm and his men were keeping the research team.**_"

"_**Great work you guys,**_" spoke Bolt in praise. "_**I've got your position on the tracker so Taka, Wolfgang and I will meet up with you guys as soon as we can.**_"

"_**Okay, we'll see you soon,**_" said Hunter before he spoke to Exile and the group. "_**Exile, you and the others go after Tom and Colt. Try to find those two before they wind up getting themselves into trouble.**_"

"You got it comrade," said Exile. "We'll find those trouble makers as quick as possible, over and out-ski."

With that, the Road Rovers turned off their com-links. Exile and his group quickly went in search for Tom and Colt while Bolt and his teammates went to join up with Hunter's group.

Back with Tom and Colt

Colt and Tom were still walking down the hallway in their search for Storm's command center. Colt was really becoming uneasy as they walked down the silent hall with only their footsteps echoing off against the walls.

'_This is way too easy,_' thought Colt as he glared at the walls on both sides of him. '_There should be at least some security cameras in this hallway._'

"We're getting close to that wacko's command center," said Tom with a smirk. "I can feel it."

"Tom, for the last time, you have to listen to me!" exclaimed Colt as he tried in vain to get through to the 14 year old. "Something about this hallway doesn't feel right!"

"And this is the last time that I'm saying this to you!" growled Tom as a sneer came across his face before he turned to glare at Colt in anger. "You'd better shut up or I'll use you as my personal punching bag!"

After he said those words the floor underneath the 14 year old boy's feet suddenly opened to reveal a dark pit. Tom was taken completely off guard as he suddenly found himself falling into the dark tunnel. Tom quickly reached out to grab onto something to keep himself from falling, unfortunately he had grabbed onto the front of Colt's uniform which led to the golden retriever falling into the pit with him. The two let out a scream as they fell down the dark tunnel with the trap doors closing behind them. Colt and Tom fell for what felt like years to them until they suddenly landed in two separate cages with a loud thud as the top doors of the cages slammed shut above them. Colt and Tom let out a groan as they slowly sat up from the floor of their cages while they rubbed their heads in pain.

"Oh man, that is one ride I _never_ want to go on again," muttered Tom as he shook his head to clear it.

Colt was the first one to quickly regain his senses when he saw that they were in some kind of room. The room had large computers with people sitting in front of the machines while they typed away on the keypads of their assigned computers. In the middle of the room was a chair that could rotate around in a circle and Colt could tell that this was the command center.

"What did I tell you," said Colt smugly as he turned to look at Tom. "We were walking straight into a trap."

"Oh shut up!" exclaimed Tom as he glared at Colt in annoyance.

"Well, well, well," spoke a voice from in front of Colt and Tom as the two K9s snapped their attention towards the chair. "I've been expecting to catch those meddlesome Road Rovers that have been interfering in my plans for world destruction, but instead I wind up capturing a couple of pups instead."

"Sorry to be a disappointment to you, Mr. Storm" said Colt as he and Tom glared at the chair before them.

The chair soon turned to face them as the person revealed himself to the two Road Rovers in-training. He was a 30 year old man wearing a blue military uniform with a dark blue cape hanging from his shoulders and black military boots. His skin was tan and his blonde hair was cut into one of those military style haircuts. Colt could tell that his guy was crazy just by taking one good look at him.

Storm glared at the two caged Road Rovers before he stood up from his chair and started making his way towards the two K9s while folding his hands behind his back.

"I'm quite surprised to see such young rovers come this far in finding my command center and for that I congratulate you in your efforts." Storm praised as he soon stood in front of the two caged rovers. "But that doesn't mean that I will show any mercy for you two."

"Let us out of here you wacko!" growled Tom as he made an attempt to grab the bars of his cage in an attempt to rip them wide open.

But that soon turned out to be the stupidest thing for the 14 year old to do. As soon as Tom gripped the bars of his cage he was suddenly met with a strong electrical current that ripped through the beauceron's body. Tom let out a howl of pain before he was thrown back by the force of the electrical current as he landed down hard on his back.

"Oh, did I forget to mention that these cages are equipped with electrical currents?" mocked Storm as he looked at Tom with a smirk plastered on his face. "Now, if you'll excuse me I have some important business to tend to."

Tom let out a growl as he sat up from the ground while he glared at Storm's retreating form. Colt also watched the soldier walking away from the cages for a moment before he turned his attention on the bars of his cage. The retriever rubbed his chin in thought.

"Well, this is a predicament," mused Colt.

With Bolt and his group

Bolt and his group, along with Kara, ran through the halls of the base as they headed for Hunter and his groups' location while being careful on not getting caught by guards along the way. Bolt and the gang were nearing the location before the tiger/wolf quickly stopped his group when they reached the corner of the hallway. Bolt signaled his group to hold back for a moment as he began to move forward on his own by shuffling slowly towards the corner. The tiger/wolf stuck his head around the corner to see if the coast was clear. The tiger/wolf saw the same large door that Tom and Colt had encountered when they were searching for Storm's command center.

"Looks like this is the place," muttered Bolt as he spotted the guards standing in front of the door. "Now where are the older Road Rovers?"

Bolt's question was answered when he suddenly felt a tap on his left shoulder. The tiger/wolf quickly turned around and saw Colleen standing right behind him. Hunter and Shag were standing with the Taka, Wolfgang and Kara, who was holding Taka's hand as the young human girl looked up at the older Road Rovers in fear.

"Looking for us?" asked Colleen with a smile.

"As a matter of fact, yes," replied Bolt with a smile of his own. "I'm surprised at how good you are at sneaking up on people Colleen."

"I'm glad you notice," said Colleen.

Bolt shook his head with a chuckle before he turned to look at the group: "Okay, we're all together. Now we just need to figure out on how to get past those guards."

"Way ahead of you Bolt," said Hunter as he reached into the side of his belt and pulled out a tennis ball.

"How is that supposed to help us?" questioned Wolfgang as he gave the tennis ball an insignificant look.

"Watch and learn my friend," said Hunter with a smirk before he put his plan into action.

The leader of the Road Rovers slowly moved up towards the corner of the hallway before slowly poking his head out to see the guards still standing in front of the metal doors. Hunter began to check the distance between him and the door before he rolled the tennis ball towards the guards. The ball stopped between the guards as the two humans looked down at it in confusion. One of the guards, who bent forward to pick up the tennis ball, quickly pulled back when a brown gas suddenly began to pour out from it. The gas engulfed the two guards and in about 3 seconds they fell to the floor unconscious.

The Road Rovers poked their heads out from around the corner as they check to see if the gas had worked and saw the guards out cold on the ground. Wolfgang stared wide eyed in surprise before looking up at Hunter who smiled down at him.

"I stand corrected," voiced the young grey wolf.

"As the saying goes: Never judge a book by its cover." Bolt said as he looked at Taka and Kara with a smile.

"Come on guys. Let's get those people out of there." Hunter commanded as he led the group towards the room that held the kidnapped research team behind its doors.

The group came to a stop as they stood in front of the metal doors. Colleen started to work on getting the doors open. The collie stood near the control panel as Shag handed her a laptop that he had pulled out of his fur before Colleen inserted a cord into an input that was located near the left side of the panel. Her fingers started flying across the keypad of her laptop while Hunter and the others kept their eyes on the unconscious guards.

"How's it coming Colleen?" asked Hunter as he looked over at the collie who stood beside him.

"Cracking these codes won't be easy Hunter," responded Colleen as she kept her eyes focused on the screen in front of her. "But I think I can by past the firewalls and find the right code that will get these doors open in a jiffy."

"I hope that it's fast jiffy," said Wolfgang as he looked down at the unconscious guards that lay on the floor in front of him.

"Relax buddy," reassured Hunter as he glanced at the grey wolf that stood beside him. "That gas can knock anyone out for hours."

Wolfgang looked at Hunter as a small smile appeared on his muzzle when he heard what the older leader had said. Bolt also smile when he heard the golden leader reassured his teammate before he quickly turned serious again as he and Taka took up on being lookouts while they watched for any guards that might be roaming around the halls. Kara stood close to Taka as she held the female K9's hand while she also took up on being a lookout, but was less calm than Bolt and Taka.

Colleen continued to type furiously across the keyboard of her laptop as she tried to crack the code that held the doors locked. For a while the group stood in front of the metal doors that held the people locked inside it but after a few minutes Colleen had cracked the code of the lock.

"Alright, we're in," said Colleen as she informed the others of her success.

The group watched as the metal doors began to open before them. The group quickly entered the room and saw all of the research team members sitting on the floor of the room with their wrists tied up behind their backs. One of the men turned his head towards the door and saw the Road Rovers coming towards them.

"W-who are you," asked the man in a tired voice.

"It's alright," said Hunter as he began to talk to the man. "We're the Road Rovers, and we're here to help you."

The man and his other team members were relieved to hear that they were saved as the Road Rovers quickly got to work in untying their wrists. Kara stood in the background as she looked over the research team members but saw no sign of the person she was looking for. Bolt quickly untied the rope from the last research member's wrist. The research team member quickly turned to the tiger/wolf and took the young Road Rover's hands.

"Oh thank you my young friend, thank you," said the research member as he shook Bolt's hands in gratitude.

"You're welcome," responded Bolt with a smile.

The young Road Rover soon turned his head when he saw Kara walking up to him and the research team member. The man quickly recognized Kara in an instant after she came up to both him and Bolt.

"Kara, what in the world, are you doing here?"

"She snuck into Storm's base to find her father," spoke Bolt as he answered the man's question. "And speaking of him, where is the professor?"

The man that Bolt had help fell silent as a sad frown came over the researcher's face: "I'm afraid that one of Storm's men had already came in here and had taken Professor Brimwood to his leader's command chamber."

"That's just perfect," grumbled Wolfgang in a sarcastic voice. "First we came here looking for T-I mean Atlas and Shadow who have gone sneaking off to go hunting for a mad man. Now we have to find Professor Brimwood who has been taken to Storm's command chamber. I tell you, this just doesn't get any better than this."

"Chill out Wolfgang," said Bolt as he looked up at his Road Rover teammate. "We'll worry about the professor later. Right now we've got to get these people out of here before we all get caught by Storm's men."

"Bolt's right," Hunter stepped in as he helped one of the research team members up to his feet. "We have to get out of here while the getting's good."

"I'll contact the others and tell them what's happening," spoke Taka as she got ready to contact the second group who were looking for Tom and Colt.

"Papa," voiced Kara as tears started to appear in the corners of her eyes.

Bolt looked at Kara in pity before coming up with a decision. The tiger/wolf sucked in a deep breath before standing up from the floor.

"Taka, I want you to look after Kara while I go look for Professor Brimwood." Bolt ordered as he stared at his female teammate in-training. "Chances are that I might find Atlas and Shadow in the command chamber as well."

Taka and Wolfgang stared at their leader in-training. They were surprise to hear him take on a commander's voice all of a sudden. Hunter wasn't too surprised at this for he knew that Bolt would take up in searching for both his brother and the girl's father no matter how long it took. Bolt soon turned to Hunter who nodded at him in understanding.

"Alright team," started Hunter as he looked over his team members. "We're going to get the research team and Kara out of Storm's base and take them somewhere safe, is that understood?"

"Yes sir!" shouted the older and younger Road Rover team members.

Bolt started his way out the door but quickly stopped as he turned his gaze to look down at Kara who stared up at him with pleading eyes. Bolt smiled down at her before he patted the girl on the head.

"Don't worry, I'll find your father Kara," said Bolt in a gentle voice. "Until then, I want you to stay with Taka and the rest of the Road Rovers, understand?"

Kara slowly nodded her head at Bolt as she gave him her answer. The tiger/wolf nodded back at the young human girl before he dashed down the hall as he went in search for Tom, Colt and Professor Brimwood.

Back with the others

Night-star and Niyol walked ahead as they led the group through the hallways of the base while avoiding any guards that might be wondering around. Niyol walked beside Night-star as the malamute used his nose to track down Tom and Colt.

"We've been walking around this base for hours and we still haven't found those trouble making boys yet," complained Blitz as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well nobody said that it was going to be easy mate," reasoned Sandy as she walked beside the Doberman. "This base is like a maze and it can easily make one lose their head in 'ere."

"She is right comrade," stepped in Exile as he looked over his shoulder to talk to the two rovers behind him. "Even I am starting to lose my sense of marbles in this place."

"Don't you mean 'Sense of direction'?" questioned Naasir as the African Wild-dog looked up at the husky beside him while he pushed Muzzle's cart in front of him.

"Is what I said," spoke Exile as he looked down at the younger Road Rover with a shrug of his shoulders.

Sandy and Niyol chuckled in amusement with Night-star smiling along with the two. Blitz rolled his eyes while shaking his head in disbelief before he turned his eyes on Sandy. Blitz had to admit that the she-dingo was pretty. Not as pretty as Colleen, but still the Doberman started to show interest in Sandy. Sandy soon noticed that Blitz was staring at her as she turned her head to look at him.

"Somethin' up Blitz?" asked the she-dingo curiously.

Blitz blushed as he quickly turned his head away from her: "Uh…n-nothing is wrong dog girl."

Sandy cocked her head to the side as she looked at Blitz confused. She soon shrugged it off as the she-dingo turned her attention back to looking forward again. Niyol and Night-star quickly stopped the group when they came to a fork in the road.

"Which way do we go now?" asked Naasir.

"Give me a sec," said Niyol as he began to sniff the air for the scent of their two trouble makers.

It took a while but Niyol finally found the scent of Tom and Colt before pointing to the hallway that branched out to their left: "They went that way."

"Good work Niyol," praised Night-star as he looked down at his young friend.

"Come on then mates, let's go find those ankle biters and get out of 'ere." Sandy said as she began to walk forward along with the others.

"And once we get out of here I'm going to teach those two kids the meaning of the word pain," growled Blitz as he proved his point by snapping his jaws to show off his sharp fangs.

"Don't be a weird boy," grumbled Exile as he gave the Doberman a disgusted look.

Naasir snickered at the two older male Road Rovers as they all walked down the hallway that Tom and Colt had taken. The group continued to walk in silence with only their footsteps echoing off against the walls of the hall. The walk lasted for about an hour with no one speaking a word until Naasir suddenly broke the silence.

"Is it just me or does this hallway seem quiet to you guys?"

"Now that you mentioned it, yeah," said Niyol as he and Night-star started to get tense under the collar.

"I don't like the smell of this, comrades," voiced Exile as he looked around at the walls of the hallway. "There should be bad guy's cameras watching us."

"You're right Exile," spoke Sandy as she eyed the hallway suspiciously. "And somethin' is tellin' me that we might be walkin' into a…"

Sandy never got to finish her sentence when the floor under the groups' feet suddenly collapsed underneath them. The team members quickly found themselves falling down a large pit before they all landed in a large cage. The group groaned as they sat up in the cage. The top door of the cage quickly slammed shut over the groups' heads before Sandy and Blitz looked at one another.

"A trap?" muttered Blitz as he guessed what the she-dingo was going to say next.

"Exactly mate," replied Sandy flatly with a nod of her head.

"Well, well, look at what the cat dragged in," spoke a voice from in front of the groups' cage.

The rovers quickly turned their heads towards the source of the voice. In front of the group were Colt and Tom who were standing separately in their own respective cages.

"Looks like we weren't the only ones who fell for Storm's trap-door trick," mumbled Tom as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"And here we thought that you'd be happy to see us, you trouble maker." Naasir retorted with a frown on his face.

"Well, looks like I've caught myself a pack of Road Rovers this time," spoke Storm as he stood in front of group who had just fallen into the cage. "It seems that things are finally looking up for me. Now all I have to do is capture the rest of your pack members than my life is complete."

"Enjoy it while you can, psycho," growled Niyol as he glared at the soldier in front of him. "When our group finds out that you've captured us, they'll tear you apart limb from limb."

"We'll just see about that, runt," retorted Storm with a smirk on his face. "Until then, you and your friends should get as comfortable as you can while you all watch my conquest over this planet before I destroy you."

"Not if we can help it, you bloke!" barked Sandy as she stepped forward and attempted to grab the bars.

"No don't!" shouted Colt at the she-dingo.

But the warning came too late as Sandy's hands already made contact with the bars of the cage. The same electrical current ripped through the she-dingo's body as the desert dog let out a howl of pain before she quickly let go of the bars. Sandy backed away from the bars of the cage before falling onto her knees while clenching her hands into fists.

"Sandy!" Naasir cried out as he and Blitz quickly knelt down beside the she-dingo.

"I'm okay," said Sandy with a reassuring smile before she winched in pain. "I think."

Blitz gently took Sandy's right hand to examine. Sandy slowly uncurled her hand as the Doberman saw the burn marks on her gloved hand with a bit of sandy colored fur showing through the holes that were made in the surface. All in all, the damage wasn't too serious. Muzzle let out a growl along with Niyol as the gang glared at Storm in hatred. He wasn't getting away with this.

Back in the hallways of the base

Bolt hid behind a corner within the hallway after he had spotted one of the soldiers walking down the hall while leading a middle aged man in front of him. The man that the soldier was leading had black hair that was cut down to his neck, but it was hard to tell what the man's eye color was. The man was wearing a short sleeve white T-shirt with a dark green vest over top. He was also wearing a pair of tan hiking shorts and brown hiking boots.

'_Looks like I've found the soldier that took Kara's father,_' thought Bolt as he spied on the two humans that were walking down the hallway.

Bolt watched as the two men took a left and disappeared around the corner of the hall. The tiger/wolf quickly followed after them while making sure that he kept himself hidden in the shadows. Bolt shadowed the two men for a time before he finally saw them standing in front of a large metal door and the tiger/wolf can only guess that behind the door was the command chamber. The soldier began to punch in the codes before the door opened with a loud hiss that was heard throughout the hallway. Bolt waited for the two men to walk through the doors before he used his super speed to run into the room at the last second the doors began to close.

The tiger/wolf quickly hid behind a stack of metal crates before peaking around the corner and what he saw made him groan in annoyance. Not only was Kara's father, Storm and a group of 50 other people in the command center, but his teammates were also in the room as well. The group that had been assigned to find Tom and Colt were all standing in one large cage while Tom and Colt where in separate cages.

'_Man, this mission is getting tougher by the second,_' thought Bolt as he looked at the situation before him. '_My friends are all trapped in cages, but not just ordinary cages by the looks of it. The bars of the cages must have electricity running through them. So there must be an electrical cord connected to the base of cages._'

Bolt's suspicions were confirmed when he spotted a few cords attached to the bottom of the three cages. The tiger/wolf started to think of a way to free his teammates, but his thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he started to hear Storm talking to Kara's father.

"It's so good to see you again Professor Brimwood," spoke Storm with a smirk. "Have you finally come to your senses or do you still need more time to think about my offer?"

"My answer is still '_no_' you crazy man," replied the man as he glared up at Storm and Bolt finally spotted the color of the man's eyes.

The man's eyes were a forest green that held a deep knowledge within them while also holding a deep hatred for Storm.

Bolt watched the men for a moment before he quietly started to make his way towards one of the cages that held one of his teammates while Storm and Professor Brimwood continued their argument.

"I told you before, Storm. I am not going to help you build that Flare Canon of yours."

"Well I'm afraid that you don't have a choice here Professor. After all; I am holding all of your research team members and I can't be held responsible for what might happen to them."

"You leave my team out of this!"

Bolt soon made it to Colt's cage as he crouched behind the bars with the golden retriever's back facing him. The tiger/wolf made sure that none of the people within the room were watching him before he started to get Colt's attention in calling him by his code name.

"Pst…Shadow," whispered the tiger/wolf in a low voice.

Colt quickly turned to see who was talking to him before he saw Bolt crouching low on the floor in front of him. The golden retriever took a quick glace to see if either of Storm's men were watching him before he knelt down to get eye level with Bolt.

"What the heck are you doing here?" hissed Colt angrily as he glared at the tiger/wolf in front of him. "Don't you realize that Storm and his men could capture you if they found out that you're here?"

"Will you just chill out Shadow," voiced Bolt as he motioned for Colt to keep quiet. "Besides I had to come in here because I promised Kara that I would rescue her father."

"Who exactly is this 'Kara' person?" questioned Colt with a frown.

"Kara is a little girl that had snuck into Storm's base." Bolt explained to his teammate. "She came in here looking for her father, but now she's with Hunter and the others so she's safe for the time being."

Colt blinked in surprise when Bolt mentioned a little girl: '_Could that Kara be that little girl I saw on the screen of one of the security camera monitors._'

"Okay, listen" Bolt started to speak again. "I have a plan on how to get you and the others out of these cages, but I want you to trust me and do exactly what I say."

"If it means getting out of this cage than I'll do it," voiced Colt with a small nod of his head.

"Okay, here's the plan," whispered Bolt. "I want you to turn invisible."

"What?"

"Turn invisible for a while," repeated Bolt. "Once you do that then I'll have Sandy make an illusion of you in front of Storm and his group."

"And after she does that?"

"Then I'll get Exile to use his heat vision to cut the cords that are connected to your cage," continued Bolt as he pointed to the cords that were connected to the bottom of the golden retriever's cage. "Once he does that then you can crack the codes on your cage door."

"And once I do that, you want me to free the others, right?"

Bolt nodded his head at the golden retriever: "Now, wait for my single once I tell Sandy my plan."

"Alright," whispered Colt. "But hurry up."

Bolt quickly crept towards the group's cage while making sure that Storm and Professor Brimwood were still talking/arguing with each other. Naasir was glaring at Storm along with his teammate when his ears quickly picked up on a noise from behind him. The young African Wild-dog quickly turned his head around to see what was behind him and saw Bolt kneeling behind the group's cage. The tiger/wolf signaled for Naasir to come over to him, which the Wild-dog quickly complied, before Bolt started whispering his plan too his teammate. Naasir nodded his head at Bolt before he quickly made his way over to Sandy and began to whisper in her ear. Sandy smirked when she heard what Naasir had told her before whispering the plan to Blitz. The Doberman nodded his head before he passed it onto Exile, who passed it on to Niyol and young malamute passing it on to Night-star. The group all nodded their heads when they turned to look at Bolt to confirm that they all understood the plan. Bolt quickly turned towards Colt's cage as he signaled the golden retriever with a thumb's up. Colt nodded his head with a smirk before he concentrated in turning himself invisible.

"And another thing Professor Brimwood, I have heard from a few of my guards that your pest of a daughter had somehow inflated my base." Storm continued on with his conversation. "So, if you don't want your precious daughter getting hurt then I suggest that you start listening to me."

Professor Brimwood growled when he found himself in a dilemma and he started to feel his resistance against Storm's threatening words weakening. Professor Brimwood opened his mouth and began to speak, but was quickly stopped when one of the men suddenly shouted within the room.

"Hey, how did you get out of your cage!" exclaimed a soldier as he pointed his gun towards the source of his outburst.

Everyone quickly turned to see what the problem was and saw one of the Road Rovers, Colt, standing in front of them. Storm was shock as he turned to look at the cage that was supposed to hold the young golden retriever and saw that it was empty.

"That's impossible," muttered Storm is disbelief before he shouted an order at his men. "Destroy that Road Rover, now!"

All of the soldiers within the room quickly raised their guns up and took aim at the golden retriever. Colt started to run away from the bullets that were being fired at him, but what the people didn't know was that the Colt, which they were shooting at, was actually an illusion. Especially Tom, who was staring dumbfounded at the scene before him.

"How the heck did that shrimp get out of his cell?" voiced Tom in confusion as he watched the guards' firing their weapons on the hologram of the young golden retriever.

Back with the Road Rovers, Sandy was concentrating in keeping her illusion up for as long as she can while Exile went to work in cutting the electrical cords that were connected to Colt's cage. Bolt watched the scene in front of him as the guards fired upon the holographic image of Colt running around the room while the bullets pierced right through the equipment.

"You'd better hurry up Exile," whispered Bolt as he looked over at the Russian husky. "I don't know how long Sandy can keep up with her illusion act."

"I'm rushing as fast as I can comrade," voiced Exile as he concentrated in cutting the cords.

The last of the electrical cords quickly snapped under the intense pressure of Exile's heat vision.

"Okay now Shadow," whispered Bolt as he gave the invisible Road Rover a nod. "Go for it."

In his cage, Colt quickly went to work in cracking the code on the lock of his cage door. It only took about a minute for the golden retriever to crack the code as the lock on the door clicked. Colt gently pushed open the door before he turned to look over at the group's cage. Exile was quickly at work in cutting the electrical wires that were attached to the group's cage while Sandy was concentrating in keeping her illusion up, but Colt quickly saw that she was straining as the she-dingo was reaching her limits.

'_She's not going to be able to hold up that illusion much longer._' Colt thought to himself and thought about going out there to distract the guards.

But his decision was quickly cast away when Bolt suddenly ran out of his hiding place after the illusion of Colt ran behind one of the giant computers. Before anyone realized what was happening, Bolt pounced on two of the guards that were guarding the professor.

"What in the world!" exclaimed Storm as he turned to see two of his men lying on the ground unconscious with Bolt standing over them.

Bolt started to dodge around the soldiers as they began to fire their guns at him, but the young tiger/wolf was proving difficult for them to hit as the young Road Rover used his super speed to avoid the bullets. Colt took this opportunity to run up to the group's cage after Exile had finished cutting the electrical cord.

"Hurry up Shadow, we're missing all the fun," voiced Naasir as he stood near the door of the cage.

"Shut up big ears," growled Colt, still in his invisible form, as he began typing in the codes of the lock mechanism. "I'm working as fast as I can here."

The golden retriever quickly typed in the last of the codes before he quickly stepped away from the cage door. Niyol quickly pushed the door open while holding it for his team members to run out before he and Exile quickly ran over to Tom's cage while the other Road Rovers headed into battle.

Bolt dodged around the bullets as he let the soldiers' bullets pierce the electronic devices within the room. The soldiers and Storm were so distracted by the speeding rover that they didn't realized that the other Road Rovers had escape their cage until they noticed them at the last second. The guards turned their weapons on the escaped Road Rovers but they never got the chance to fire for their guns were instantly taken right out of their hands by Bolt. The guards stood in fear as they stared at the Road Rovers who were standing in front of them. Bolt stood in front of the group with all of the soldiers' guns tucked underneath his right arm before he dropped them to the floor.

"Didn't your mothers ever tell you not to play with guns?" questioned Bolt angrily as he glared at the soldiers in front of him.

The soldiers' only reply to Bolt's question was them slowly backing away from the Road Rovers, but the K9's never gave them the chance to leave as Bolt suddenly gave the older rovers a command without realizing it.

"Take 'em team!" shouted Bolt as he and the rovers ran towards the guards.

The guards soon found themselves fighting against the Road Rovers as the K9's beat them down without breaking a sweat. Sandy was up against two men as she either blocked or dodged their punches and kicks. The she-dingo was having a hard time in defending herself against the two men, but that all changed when one of the men suddenly let out a yelp of pain. Sandy and the guard watched in confusion as the second guard jumped ten feet into the air, but the distraction gave Sandy enough time to punch the first guard in the face before she turned to see who had assaulted the second guard. The she-dingo smiled when she saw that it had been Blitz who had bitten the second guard in the rear.

"Thanks Blitz," said Sandy as she thanked the Doberman.

"What can I say dog girl, I bite to please," boasted Blitz with a smirk on his face.

Sandy was about to speak when she suddenly saw something behind Blitz. She quickly tackles the Doberman to the ground: "Look out!"

The sound of a gun was heard as the two rovers fell to the ground with Sandy falling on top of Blitz. One of the guards had pulled out a small hand gun and had tried to shoot Blitz in the back. Night-star quickly took care of the guard by karate chopping him in the neck and let the man fall to the ground unconscious before he turned to look at Blitz and Sandy.

"Are you two okay?" asked the Alaskan husky as he looked down at the two rovers before him.

"I'm fine," replied Sandy as she looked up Night-star before looking down at Blitz. "What about you mate, you okay?"

"Uh…yeah," replied Blitz as he looked up at Sandy with a blush forming on his cheeks.

Sandy looked down at Blitz in confusion until she understood why the Doberman was blushing when she saw the position that they were both in. The she-dingo quickly got off of Blitz as she sat on the floor while looking down at her hands that were folded in her lap while a blush began to appear on her face.

"S-sorry," muttered Sandy as she kept looking down at her hands.

"T-that's alright," replied Blitz as he sat up from the floor while rubbing the back of his head.

Night-star only smiled as the scene in front of him before he got back to the situation at hand: "I hate to spoil this moment you two, but we do have a battle to finish here."

That got the two rovers out of their embarrassing moment as Sandy and Blitz quickly got up from the floor. Back with Tom, the young Beauceron was watching the battle with an annoyed look on his face and was about to shout for one of the Road Rovers to get him out of his prison when he suddenly heard someone speaking behind him.

"Hey there Atlas, are you enjoying your stay in the Hotel Cage?"

Tom quickly turned to look behind him and saw Niyol standing at the bars of the cage while Exile started cutting through the cables. Tom stomped towards the malamute with a glare before he stood in front of the bars of his cage.

"Very funny Frosty," growled Tom in anger. "Now get me out of here!"

"We will, just hold your horses," said Niyol as he held his hands up in a surrendering position before the malamute turned to look at the Russian husky. "How's it coming Exile?"

"I'm almost done comrade," answered Exile as he cut through the last electrical cord.

"Okay, you better stand back Atlas," Niyol warned the 14 year old behind the cage bars.

"Why the heck are you calling me 'Atlas'?" growled Tom in anger.

"Because that's your code name," Niyol replied flatly as he reminded the 14 year old in front of him.

"Oh…right," said Tom before he quickly backed away from the cage bars.

Niyol quickly drew in a deep breath before breathing lightly on the bars of the cage so that he wouldn't accidently freeze Tom with his ice breath. The bars were quickly frozen over by Niyol's ice breath before the malamute quickly backed away from the bars with Exile following suit. Tom let a smirk appear on his muzzle as he began to crack his right knuckle.

"Now, let's just see how strong these bars are when they face off against my fist." Tom growled before he pulled back his arm and slammed his fist against the bars of ice.

The ice instantly shattered when the Beauceron's fist made contact with bars. In the bars place was a large gaping hole. Tom quickly jumped out through the hole before he stood in front of Niyol and Exile with a smug look on his face.

"You see," boasted Tom as he rubbed the knuckles of his right hand against his chest. "Nothing can stand against my awesome strength."

"Or your overly inflated ego for that matter," muttered Niyol as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Tom sent Niyol a glare and was about to retort to what the malamute said when Exile suddenly came between the two.

"Argue later boys!" snapped the Russian husky. "Right now we need to help comrades!"

"Right!" said Niyol before he and Exile ran to join the others in their fight against the guards.

Tom stood back for a moment with a confused look on his face before he quickly ran into battle himself. Bolt dodged and punched any of the guards that decided to challenge him, but the guards were no match for the tiger/wolf's speed. Bolt quickly leaped up into the air when a guard tried to grab him from behind. He landed on top the guard's shoulders in a handstand before pushing off as he launched himself high into the air. Bolt flipped through the air before he landed in a crouching position on the floor. The tiger/wolf then swept his left leg under the legs of the guard that had tried to catch him. The guard fell to the ground with a thud before he started to get up again, but Night-star quickly stopped him by punching him in the back of the head. The guard fell to the ground unconscious.

"Thank you, Night-star," said Bolt with a smile of gratitude.

"You're welcome Bolt," replied Night-star with a nod of his head.

Bolt quickly stood up from the ground as he started to survey the battle around him. The tiger/wolf saw Nassir and Sandy fighting together against four guards while Blitz and Exile doubled teamed a lone soldier by giving him a double whammy. Niyol was using his ice breath to freeze the soldiers into place while also creating an ice patch for them to slip on. Tom was having a blast in punching the guards' lights out, but Bolt quickly noticed that Storm and Professor Brimwood weren't in the room anymore.

"Oh man," said Bolt when he realized the situation at hand. "Storm used this distraction to sneak away from here with the professor."

"Then you better go after him," advised Night-star to the young leader-in-training.

"But what about you guys?" questioned Bolt as he looked up at the black husky.

"We'll be fine, just go."

Bolt looked at Night-star for a moment before nodding his head at the husky and ran out of the room as he went in searched of Storm, but what he didn't know was that someone else was following Storm.

With Storm and Professor Brimwood

Storm was leading Professor Brimwood down the hall with his gun pointed at the professor's back. Storm had no intention of surrendering to the Road Rovers or giving up the professor after all the hard work that he had went through just to capture him.

"Unhand me you…" started Professor Brimwood but was quickly silenced when he felt Storm press his gun harder against his back.

"Be quiet, or else you'll wind up with a bullet in your back." Storm growled as he kept leading the man in front of him down the hall. "You are not to speak a word, you understand?"

Professor Brimwood clenched his jaw in frustration as he was lead down the hall of the base. The walk was quiet for a while before Storm was suddenly tripped by some unknown force. Storm fell to the ground with a thud while Professor Brimwood turned around to look around behind him when he heard Storm hit the floor. Storm slowly got up from the floor with a painful groan before he started to reach for his gun, but he quickly got the shock of his life when the gun was suddenly kicked away from him. Storm was surprised to see that his gun had moved on its own before he quickly stood up from the ground and started to look around the hall in an attempt to find the cause of the of strange happenings. Storm suddenly froze when he heard a voice speaking from behind him.

"You thought that you have gotten away from us Road Rover, huh?" whispered a voice next to the renegade soldier's left ear.

Storm quickly turned around to face the one who was speaking but saw no one behind him. The same voice spoke again from Storm's far left.

"Well let's just say that you can't get rid of us dogs that easily," spoke the voice with a bit of mockery.

Storm quickly turned towards the voice before he shouted at it: "Whose there? Show yourself!"

"As you wish," replied the voice as the speaker suddenly revealed themselves to be Colt, who was still invisible at the time.

"You!" exclaimed Storm in shock.

"That's right, me!" barked Colt before he threw himself at Storm as the young golden retriever tackled the renegade soldier to the ground.

The young rover and renegade soldier started to roll around on the floor as they tried to pin the other to the ground so far Colt seemed to have the advantage, but what he didn't know was that Storm had a plan up his sleeve. Professor Brimwood watched from the sidelines as the confusion continued on in front of him. Colt soon got the upper hand as he pinned Storm to the ground by the shoulders while forgetting to pin the renegade soldier's arms.

"Now I've got you," growled Colt as he glared down at the man underneath him.

"Oh you think so, huh pup?" questioned Storm as a smirk came over his face.

Colt looks down at Storm in confusion before he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his right side. The young rover quickly stood up as he let out a howl that echoed through the hall which caught the ears of a certain young tiger/wolf that was running through the hallways. Colt quickly grabbed his side before he slowly pulled his hand away to see that his palm was covered in a large amount of blood. The golden retriever turned his eyes back on Storm as the renegade soldier held up a one foot long army knife that was stained with the young rover's blood. Colt let out a growl before he fell onto his right knee in pain.

"Poor little puppy," mocked Storm before he picked up his gun again while sheathing his army knife. "Looks like I'll just have to put you out of your misery."

Storm got ready to pull the trigger to end Colt's life, but was quickly tackled to the ground by a dark red blur. Storm's gun was instantly knocked out of his hands again as he was now fighting against Bolt. The tiger/wolf snarled angrily with his fangs only a half inch away from the renegade soldier's face. The two rolled around on the floor for a minute before Storm quickly pushed Bolt off of him as he knocked the tiger/wolf into the walls of the hall, but Bolt quickly got back into the fight. Colt watched the battle for a while before he quickly stood up from the ground and made his way over to the bound professor.

"I'll get these for you," said Colt as he started to untie the ropes from around Professor Brimwood's wrists.

"Thank you," said the professor in gratitude.

Back with Bolt, the young tiger/wolf quickly used his super speed to tackle into Storm while jamming his left elbow into the renegade soldier's gut. Storm became weak in the knees before he fell to the floor as the renegade soldier tried to catch his breath. Bolt stood back for a moment as he glared down at the renegade soldier before him.

"Give up Storm!" growled Bolt ferociously. "You know you can't win."

Storm coughed as he tried to catch his breath before he glared up at the tiger/wolf: "Forget it you runt, I'm not going back to prison again!"

"You don't have a choice in the matter," said Bolt. "You have committed crimes against all charges like kidnapping the professor and his research team, while also forcing Professor Brimwood to make you a lethal weapon. I'd say that your crimes can't go unpunished. Now, will you come quietly with us or not?"

Storm growled for a moment before he turned his eyes towards his gun that lay on the floor a few feet away from him. The renegade soldier smirked before he made a leap towards his gun. Bolt quickly became aware of this as he jumped on top of Storm's back and tried to pin him to the ground, but the young tiger/wolf wasn't fast enough. Storm quickly grabbed the gun with his free hand as his finger touched the trigger. The gun had been pointed at Colt and Professor Brimwood without Storm realizing it. Colt quickly saw that the gun was pointed at them before the golden retriever pushed the professor to the ground.

"Watch out!" yelled Colt when Storm accidently pulled the trigger of his gun.

A loud bang was heard throughout the halls of the base and those within earshot quickly froze. Hunter, after he had and his team had gotten the research team out of the base, had gone back into the building to find his other team members when he suddenly heard the sound.

"Oh no," whispered Hunter in fear before he ran through the halls towards source of the gunshot that had been fired off.

Bolt watched in horror as he saw Colt fall to the floor. Time seemed to stop for the young tiger/wolf before Bolt started to feel white hot anger rise up within his body. He turned his golden eyes down on the renegade soldier that he had pinned underneath him. Storm was taken completely off guard when Bolt suddenly grabbed him by the collar of his uniform before the tiger/wolf threw the adult hard into the side wall of the hall. Storm slid to the ground with a groan before he turned to glare at Bolt, only to freeze when he saw the tiger/wolf towering over him. Bolt's amber eyes glared down at the renegade soldier before him as he bared his fangs in anger.

"You could have come quietly, but you decided to resist and pull that gun's stupid trigger," voiced Bolt in a dangerous voice. "Now you're going to pay the price for hurting my team member!"

Bolt, in one swift movement, grabbed Storm by the front of his uniform before delivering a powerful right hook punch to the renegade soldier's face. That punch was enough to knock the renegade soldier unconscious before the tiger/wolf slammed Storm into the wall of the hallway while letting go of the demoted soldier's shirt collar. Bolt glared down at Storm as he began to feel a pinwheel of emotions flow through his veins. One part of Bolt wanted to kill the renegade soldier for hurting his teammate, while another part of Bolt told him to stop. Bolt kept glaring down at Storm for a moment before turning away from the renegade soldier as he made his way over to Colt who was being tended to by Professor Brimwood. Bolt knelt down beside the golden retriever as he looked to see where the bullet had hit Colt.

The bullet had pierced right through the armor that protected Colt's left shoulder as blood slowly seeped out of the wound.

"How's he doing?" asked Bolt as he looked up at the human adult before him.

"Not so good I'm afraid," responded Professor Brimwood as he looked at the tiger/wolf. "I may not be a medical doctor but I do know that the bullet, plus the knife that had stabbed this young dog's side, equals a serious amount of blood loss if your friend doesn't get treatment quickly."

Bolt gently bit the bottom of his lip as he contemplated on what to do. He can't just leave the professor here without an escort along with the renegade soldier that was unconscious behind him. But the young tiger/wolf knew that he had to get Colt back to HQ as soon as possible.

'_What am I going to do?_' thought Bolt as a small growl began to form within the back of his throat.

That was when Bolt suddenly heard the sound of running feet coming down the hallway behind him. The tiger/wolf quickly stood up from the floor and got ready to attack the intruder, but Bolt soon relaxed when he saw Hunter running towards him.

"Bolt!" shouted Hunter as he slowed to a normal run before finally stopping in front of the young tiger/wolf. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine," answered Bolt with a nod of his head before he turned to look at Colt. "But I'm afraid that Shadow isn't alright."

Hunter quickly walked over to the younger golden retriever before kneeling down on the floor. The Road Rover leader inspected Colt for a moment before he turned to look at Bolt.

"We need to get him back to HQ right away," said Hunter in a serious voice.

"I know," answered Bolt. "That's why I need you to take Professor Brimwood and _Storm_ with you while I teleport Shadow back to HQ."

"Storm?" repeated Hunter as he looked up at the younger rover for a moment before he turned to look behind him.

The older Road Rover soon spotted Storm leaning up against the side wall of the hallway.

"What happened to him?" questioned Hunter.

"I'll explain later," said Bolt hastily. "Right now I need to get Shadow to Professor Hubert."

Bolt quickly knelt down beside Colt as he unclipped the collar from around the young golden retriever's neck before he handed the collar to Hunter.

"Give Shadow's collar to Colleen and tell her to transport to HQ as quickly as she can," ordered Bolt.

"You got it Bolt," said Hunter with a nod of his head.

Bolt quickly nodded back before he tapped the dog tag on his collar as he got in contacted with the Master at HQ.

"Master, this is Bolt, I've got an injured Road Rover that needs to be tended to."

"_**This is Master, I read you loud and clear,**_" the familiar voice responded on the communicator. "_**I'll have Professor Hubert prepare the medical room.**_"

"Thank you Master," replied Bolt. "I'll be there in a flash."

Bolt quickly ended the communication before he gathered Colt up into his arms. He then turned to look at Hunter again.

"I'll see you and the others back at the base," said Bolt to the leader of the older Road Rovers.

"See you then Bolt," said Hunter.

Bolt nodded his head before he pressed the dog tag on his collar again. The tiger/wolf's body glowed for a moment, along with Colt's body, before he and Colt disappeared. Hunter and Professor Brimwood stared at the spot that Bolt had just been kneeling on a few moments ago before the golden retriever turned to glare at the unconscious renegade soldier.

"Now it's time to wrap you up," growled Hunter as he pulled out a rope from his belt and made his way over to Storm.

To be continued


	12. Part 3

Living a Different life

I do not own Road Rover characters, only the characters that I made up within my story.

Sorry for the long wait Road Rover fans, but here is the next chapter of my story. Hope you enjoy it.

The difficult decision and the mistake that nearly killed Colt: Part 3

It had been hours since Roger had teleported back to Road Rover HQ with an injured Colt in his arms. The golden retriever had been taken straight to the emergency room by Doctor Hubert and Colleen, who had quickly teleported to help after Hunter had given her Colt's collar, and appeared in the base not long after. She quickly joined Doctor Hubert in the medical bay. Roger was sitting in the rec-room as he waited patiently to hear what news would be brought to him.

'_Please Colt, please be okay,_' thought Roger as prayed for the Mexican retriever to recover.

Roger's ears quickly caught the sound of footsteps approaching from behind him. The young tiger/wolf stood up from his chair as he turned to see Hunter and the other Road Rovers walking towards him. Akane quickly ran towards Roger and quickly embraced the tiger/wolf as she buried her face against her leader's chest. Roger gently wrapped his arms around the Hovawart when he felt his female member shake as she tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to stream down her face.

"Easy Akane, easy," whispered Roger as he rubbed his hand up and down Akane's back to comfort her.

"I told the gang about what had happened to Colt," said Hunter as he walked up to Roger before he stopped in front of the young tiger/wolf. "How's he doing?"

"I don't know," replied Roger as he looked up at the golden retriever mix breed. "They're still working on him, but from the way his wounds looked…I can tell that it's pretty serious."

"Then the only thing we can do for now is wait," said Hunter with a down cast look.

Roger only nodded his head before he led Akane over to the couch where the two of them sat together in complete silence. The other's soon followed as they picked which chair to sit on while some of the team members sat on the ground. Hours passed by with every second and there was still no word about Colt's condition. Hunter was sitting in a chair, which stood across from Roger and Akane, with his hands clasped together while he leaned against his knees. Nanuq was passing back and forth across the rec-room as his face held deep frown of concern. Simba sat on the ground with Exile sitting beside him as the husky wrapped an arm around the wild-dog child's shoulders. Sandy was leaning against Blitz while the Doberman wrapped his arm around the she-dingo as he tried to comfort her.

Night-Star was sitting on the couch with Shag as the largest member of the group started to whimper in worry while the black husky tried to calm Shag down along with Alexander who was trying his best to help. As for Tom, he was leaning against the wall, his face devoid of any emotion.

Roger rubbed Akane's shoulder as he let the young girl from Japan lean against him for comfort. Time seemed to tick by as the group waited in the rec-room to hear the news about Colt before they heard the footsteps of Colleen walking towards them. The group looked up to see the collie walking towards them with a sad frown on her face. Hunter was the first one to speak among his group members.

"How's he doing?" asked the retriever.

"Not so good," replied Colleen with a sigh. "Mr. Hubert and I got the bullet out, but Colt had lost a lot of blood before he was brought back here to the base."

"Will he be okay?" asked Nanuq.

"I don't really know Nanuq. We have him stable at the moment, but we're not sure that he'll survive through the night."

"Ha!" scoffed Tom as the others turned looked over at him. "It serves the guy right. That idiot should have just let the bullet hit that dimwitted professor instead of taking the shot himself."

Roger let out a growl before he shot like lightning towards his brother. Tom was completely caught off guard when he suddenly felt a fist slam into his gut before he fell down to the ground in pain. Roger stood over his brother as hot tears of rage threatened to come pouring down his face.

"At least he was brave enough to show that he cared about other peoples' lives!" shouted Roger as he glared down at Tom. "All you ever think about is yourself and yourself only! You never consider other's feelings and you never think of the consequences that might affect them!"

Tom only let out a groan as he opened one eye while glaring up at his younger brother in resentment. Roger also glared down at him as well as blinding hot anger consumed his senses for a moment, but he slowly calmed down after he took a few breaths. Hunter walked up to Roger as he placed a gentle hand on the young Rover's shoulder.

"Easy there buddy," said Hunter gently. "I promise that we're going to do everything we can to help Colt get better. Until then, I think it's time that you kids went home for now."

Roger didn't say anything for a moment but soon answered Hunter with a solemn nod of his head. Tom slowly stood up from the ground as he still glared at his younger brother, but a quick glance from Hunter told him that he was to keep quiet. The leader of the original Road Rovers had had enough with this 14 year old boy's attitude for one day and he was already ticked off that Colt had been hurt by Storm. He did not want to handle an overly confident punk like Tom right now. Roger, Akane, Alexander and Nanuq reluctantly left the room with Hunter, Colleen and Night-star accompanying them. Tom lagged behind with a sour look on his face.

'_It wasn't my fault that street kid_ _nearly got himself killed,_' Tom complained within his head. '_He was the one that went running off in the first place._'

The group walked into the hallway in silence while not saying a word to one another. This was a hard day for everyone within the Road Rovers' home base as they thought about the Mexican retriever boy whose life was hanging on a thin thread of hope that he would make it through the night.

Roger's home

Roger, back at home in his human form, lay on his bed as he thought about Colt and he couldn't help feeling that it was still his fault that Colt had been injured. Suddenly, Roger heard his bedroom door open. The 12 year old sat up on his bed as he was greeted by the sight of his mother.

Roger's mother was a beautiful 25 year old woman with long black hair that grew to her shoulders and blue eyes. She was wearing a white T-shirt and dark blue skirt that stretched down towards her ankles. Roger's mother was a doctor for children who might have a disease or were seriously injured in an accident. She was kind and understanding towards peoples' feelings and would always try her best in helping them out as much as she can.

"Hi mom," said Roger in a soft voice as he let his mother sit beside him on his bed.

"Hi honey," spoke Roger's mother in a gentle voice.

The two of them didn't speak right away as they sat on Roger's bed for a while before Roger's mother was the one to finally speak.

"Are you feeling alright Roger?" she asked her son in a worried voice. "You haven't come down for super."

"I'm sorry mom," said Roger as he looked down at his lap. "I just have a lot on my mind right now."

"What to tell me about?"

Roger was quiet for a moment before he answered his mother: "Mom…what would happen if a friend of yours was seriously injured and you have no idea how you can help them get better?"

"That's hard to explain honey," said Roger's mother as she began to answer her son's question. "Sometimes we can only do the best we can in helping them get through the pain that they're feeling."

"But what if your best isn't good enough?" asked Roger as he looked up at his mother again.

"Then you just have to have faith that they'll pull through. Sometimes having a little faith can take you a long way."

Roger frowned as he thought over what his mother had said. Maybe if he had faith, then Colt might pull through in healing. Roger's mother soon kissed the top of his head before looking at him again.

"Get some sleep now," Roger's mother said in a gentle voice. "You got a big day at school tomorrow."

"Okay mom," said Roger as his mother stood up from the bed and walked towards the door, "Goodnight".

"Goodnight honey, sweet dreams."

With that, Roger's mother gently closed the 12 year old boy's door. Roger stared at the door for a moment before turning his head towards the window of his room. A full moon hung in the sky that night as it glowed bright against the darkness.

'_Be strong Colt, keep fighting to live…no matter what it takes._'

Road Rover HQ

Simba was sitting next to the medical bed as he looked down at the Mexican golden retriever that was lying in front of him. Colt was hooked up to life supporter and his chest and shoulders were covered up in many bandages. The heart monitor beeped every few seconds as it showed signs of Colt still alive and breathing. Simba slowly placed his hand on top of Colt's right hand that wasn't covered by the blanket that lay over the golden retriever's body.

"Come on Colt," whispered Simba in a desperate voice. "You've got to pull through, you just got to."

Suddenly, the door to the recovery room opened and the African Wild-dog turned to see who it was. He saw Colleen walking into the room.

"Colleen," voiced Simba in a small.

"Hey there Simba," said Colleen as she came to sit in a chair that stood beside Simba's chair. "How's it going here?"

Simba didn't answer as he looked down at the still form of Colt. Colleen sadly frowned as she looked at the African wild-dog before she gently placed a hand on the child's shoulder.

"I just don't understand," said Simba quietly as he looked down at Colt. "He never liked hanging with us and he never showed any emotions around other people. I always thought he didn't care about anyone, but himself. But after what I've heard from Roger about what he did...I just don't know what to think any more."

"Sometimes people can change unexpectedly without us knowing," spoke Colleen. "But whatever his reason, Colt did it to protect that little girl's father."

"I just wish he did it differently instead of just taking the bullet," voiced Simba as his shook. "He's such an idiot."

Colleen wrapped her arms around Simba as she tried to comfort the African child. Simba leaned into Colleen's shoulder. The two stay in that position as the two decided to watch over Colt together.

The next day

Roger had finished school that day and was now waiting patiently as he watched his parents walk out of the door before he got ready to transport himself to the Road Rover base. Tom had decided to hang out with his friends after school that day so he wouldn't be coming to the Road Rover HQ for a while. Roger made sure to lock the front and back doors' of his house before he touched the button on his metal bracelet to transport himself to HQ before quickly reappearing in the transformation room. Roger slipped off his bracelet and put it in its respective case before entering the dome of the trans-dog-mifier. Mist filled the chamber before it stopped and Roger stepped out in his Road Rover form.

Once Roger was out of the chamber, he took off down the hallway using his super speed as he headed towards the recovery room. The young 12 year old quickly came to a halt when he reached the door to the recovery room in about 6 seconds. The wolf/tiger stood in front of the door as he stared at it as he tried to catch his breath for a second. He was reluctant to go in for he was afraid to see what he might find in there, but the 12 year old soon gathered up his courage as he took in a deep breath and reach for the handle of the door. Roger slowly opened the door and what he saw surprised him.

Sitting in a chair that stood next to Colt's bed was Simba. The young African Wild dog was sleeping with his head resting on top of his folded arms while he leaned to the edge of Colt's bed. Roger stared at the scene in front of him for a moment before he slowly walked into the room. He was soon standing in front of Colt's bed and beside the sleeping form of Simba. The wolf/tiger stared down at the sleeping form of Simba in confusion.

"He's been up all night watching over Colt," spoke a voice from the door.

Roger slowly turned to the owner of the voice and saw Colleen walking into the room with a tray of food in her hands.

"Was he really worried about Colt that much?" asked Roger as he turned his gaze back down to the sleeping Wild dog.

"You could say that," replied the collie as she placed the tray of food on a nearby table.

Roger looked down at Simba as a proud smile appeared on his face. Roger walked away from the African wild-dog's sleeping form as he went to grab a blanket from a nearby closet before coming back over to Simba's side. The wolf/tiger gently placed the blanket on top of Simba before he turned to look over at Colt's still form. Roger slowly took in a breath before he opened his mouth to speak.

"Well Colt, looks like you've earned yourself a place on my team," said Roger with sad smile. "You've proven to us that you've really cared about others despite your attitude towards your team members."

Colleen quietly listened to the young leader of the junior Road Rovers. She was taken by surprise when Hunter suddenly entered the room and saw him standing beside her. The golden retriever smiled at Colleen before he turned his attention on Roger as a sad frown came over his face. Roger turned around to look behind him when he sensed Hunter entering the room.

"How's our patient doing?" asked Hunter.

"He seems to be doing okay so far," answered Roger with a small smile. "But it was actually Simba here who had been watching over Colt all night."

"Yeah, Colleen told me," said Hunter with a nod of his head. "The kid seemed to be more worried about Colt's wellbeing then any of us within the HQ."

Roger let out a sigh before he turned his attention back on Colt's unconscious form: "We all were, except for my older brother."

"And speaking of your brother, the group and I have come to an agreement," continued Hunter before he let out a quiet sigh. "Tom will have to be resigned to another team until he learns to understand the meaning of teamwork."

"That seems like the best decision I've heard all day," spoke a voice from the bed.

Roger, Hunter and Colleen where taken completely off guard when they recognized the voice and quickly turned their attention to the bed. There, lying on the bed with his eyes open was Colt, wide awake. A large smile appeared on Roger's face with Hunter and Colleen smiling as well. The room was quiet for a moment before Roger broke it.

"Welcome back to the living Colt," greeted Roger.

Colt gave Roger a weak smile: "It's good to be back."

"How're you feeling?" asked Hunter as he and Colleen came up to the bedside.

"Better if I didn't feel this annoying sharp pain in both my shoulder and side," answered Colt truthfully.

"Well you took a pretty bad pounding from Storm when you were fighting him," said Colleen as she placed a gentle hand over the young golden retriever's hand.

"Speaking of the over blown maniac, where is he?"

"He's in jail now," answered Roger.

"And what about the girl's father?" asked Colt "Is he okay?"

"He's fine, thanks to you," answered Hunter. "If you hadn't taken the bullet for him then that little girl would have wounded up being an orphan."

Colt looked up at Hunter in confusion before the older retriever continued: "The girl's father told us that he lost his wife to cancer when his daughter was only 2 years old."

Colt was quiet as he took in what the leader of the original Road Rovers had said to him. The girl had lost a mother when she was only 2 years old and the only family she had left was her father. This news both saddened and eased Colt. It saddened the boy that the little girl had lost her mother at such a young age. He was also at ease once he realized that the girl hadn't winded up being like him and Simba, an orphan.

"Thank goodness," muttered Colt with a smile before he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

Roger watched for a few minutes as Colt's chest rose and fell in even rhythm before turning to Hunter and Colleen with a smile.

"Looks like he's going to be okay," said Roger.

"I have to admit, he's a lot tougher than your brother," said Hunter with a chuckle.

"Alright you two, I think it's time we let him recover properly," whispered Colleen.

Roger and Hunter nodded in understanding to what the collie was saying. Hunter gently picked up Simba and began to follow after Colleen and Roger, but not before he heard Simba speaking out Colt's name.

"C-Colt," muttered the African wild-dog.

"Don't worry Simba," whispered Hunter gently. "Colt's going to be just fine."

Simba slowly relaxed in Hunter's arms after he heard what the golden retriever had said. Roger was the last one out of the room before he turned to look at Colt's bed again. The wolf/tiger smiled before he grabbed the knob of the door before quietly shutting it behind him.

One Hour Later

All the members of both Roger's group, minus Tom, were assembled in the briefing room along with Hunter's group as they were all seated at the table. Simba had already woken up ten minutes ago to attend the meeting for he was curious to hear what the condition on Colt was. Everyone quickly turned their attention to the plat form when the Master suddenly appeared before them.

"Well everyone," started Master. "I have some good news to tell you all. An hour ago, Colt had woken up, which is a sure sign that he's going to be alright."

All the group members, minus Roger, Hunter and Colleen, let out a sigh when they heard the good news.

"Thank goodness," spoke Sandy, who was seated next to Blitz.

"It seems the ancient spirits had been watching over Colt," said Night-star with a smile.

Nanuq, Alexander, Simba and Akane smiled at each other as a wave of relief washed over all of them. Everyone soon settled down as the Master continued on with his speech.

"Now even though Colt has shown signs of recovery he will still need to be supervised for a while. So I want all of you to keep an eye on him until he's strong enough to look after himself again."

"Yes Master!" echoed the Rovers.

"Good, now there is another matter that we have to discus and that is Roger's older brother, who as you can see is not with us right now. Roger, would you tell the others about what we are to do with your brother."

Roger nodded his head before he stood up from his chair and began to speak to his group members and fellow team members.

"As we all know, Tom and Colt hadn't been acting much like team members to my group for a while now," said Roger as a sad frown came over his face. "My group and I were also discussing whether we should keep them on our team or kick them out, but after the mission yesterday I think our outlook on Colt has changed somewhat."

Akane, Nanuq, Alexander and Simba nodded their heads in agreement to what their leader had just said. It was true the group had started to have a change of heart for Colt after the noble action he performed when he sacrificed himself to protect the little girl's father.

"We're thinking of giving him a second chance on our team," continued Roger. "As for Tom, well…I still thought that we needed my brother on the team, but after his actions yesterday I think it's time we let him go."

"I also agree with letting Tom go as well," said Simba.

"Us too," spoke Nanuq with Akane and Alexander nodding their heads in agreement.

"We also feel that strongly about letting Tom go," said Hunter in a sad tone. "We all saw how dangerous it could be for him to continue staying in Roger's group."

"We also think that Tom should be put into another group," Night-star said. "That way he can learn a little more about what teamwork really means."

"Is this what everyone else thinks as well?" questioned Master.

Everyone slowly nodded their heads as they answered the Master's question.

"Then it is decided," continued Master with a deep sigh. "From this day forward, Tom will be reassigned to another team until he learns the meaning of teamwork."

"Now the only thing we have to do is tell him," said Sandy sadly.

"But who's going to be the one to tell him?" questioned Blitz.

"I will," said Roger among the group. "I'm his brother and as leader it's my responsibility to tell him."

"You think you can handle it?" asked Hunter.

"I think so," replied Roger.

With that said, the meeting was put to an end as everyone left the briefing room…all except Roger who had decided to stay behind to think over the words that he had to tell Tom when he comes to the HQ. Roger looked down at his hands as he thought about the situation that he was in now until he suddenly felt a hand rest on top his shoulder. The tiger/wolf looked up and saw Akane standing beside him with a reassuring look on her face.

"It's going to be alright Roger," said Akane as she took a seat beside him.

"I hope so," muttered Roger with a sigh. "Tom has always been the type of person who likes to do things his own way and will never listen to anyone but himself. I'm worried that the team that Master will put him in won't be able to handle him."

Akane sadly looked at Roger as she slowly placed her right over top of the wolf/tiger's left hand to comfort him. Roger looked at Akane as the female of his team gave him a gentle smile of encouragement and he couldn't help but smile back at his teammate. The two of them were suddenly interrupted when they heard the sound of a foot tapping against the floor behind them. Roger and Akane quickly turned in their chairs to see Tom standing in the doorway of the briefing room.

"Hunter said that you wanted to see me little brother," said Tom.

"Yes I did," replied Roger with a frown before he turned to look at Akane. "Would you mind if you give Tom and me sometime alone together?"

Akane nodded in understanding before she stood up and walked out of the briefing room while glaring at Tom as she passed by him. Tom watched the female member of his team walk out of the room before turning his gaze on Roger.

"Okay Roger, what's this all about?" questioned the 14 year old.

Roger only let out a sigh before speaking: "Take a seat Tom…we need to talk."

To Be Continued


End file.
